Erdogan accuses Greece of violating Muslim minority rights

ANKARA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday accused Athens of undermining the rights on the Muslim minority in Greece’s Thrace region.

Erdogan expressed his concerns in a statement dedicated to the 99th anniversary of the Lausanne Treaty that was signed in 1923 to settle disputes between Turkey and the Allies, which included Greece, after World War I.

“The conditions registered in the treaty, especially the rights of the Turkish minority, have been ignored or deliberately eroded,” Erdogan’s statement was quoted as saying.

“It is not possible for our country to accept this situation, which is incompatible with good neighbourly relations and loyalty to the treaty,” the Turkish leader underlined.

Muslims in Thrace amount to nearly 32 percent of the province’s population. The community consists of ethnic Turks, Roma and Bulgarian-speaking Pomaks. According to the Lausanne Treaty, Muslim minority in Greece and Christians in Turkey were protected from discrimination. On Friday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned the closure of four Muslim minority schools in Thrace, claiming that it demonstrated “discriminatory and oppressive policies” by the Greek government.