Davutoglu: Greece failed to protect Turkish minority rights

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has stated that Greece has failed to fulfill its obligations under the Treaty of Lausanne, which defines minority rights. In response to a written parliamentary question recently submitted by Republican People's Party (CHP) Istanbul deputy Osman Koruturk on the government's approach to violations that the Turkish minority living in Greece face, Davutoglu said, "The high number of cases in which Greece was found by the European Court of Human Rights [ECtHR] -- a last resort after exhausting all domestic remedies -- to be in breach of the convention is a clear indication of Greece's unjust treatment of the Turkish minority." Davutoglu underlined that the former Article 19 of the Greek Nationality Code, which was in effect between 1959 and 1998, reads as follows: "A person of non-Greek ethnic origin leaving Greece without the intention of returning may be declared to have lost his or her Greek nationality," which is a clear example of discrimination against ethnic minorities. Recalling that thousands of people from the Turkish minority living in Western Thrace have been victimized by losing all of their rights as Greek citizens, Davutoglu added that although the infamous Article 19 was abrogated long ago, since its repeal was not retroactive, thousands of stateless minority members are still unable to regain their Greek citizenship, unjustly taken away by the Greek authorities, and have been paid no compensation. Davutoglu highlighted that Turkey does not expect anything in return for its major steps taken to improve the rights of the Greek minority in Turkey since Turkey considers these improvements to be fundamental human rights and the freedom of religion. "We do not demand the implementation of the principle of reciprocity with respect to the expansion of minority rights. However, it does not mean that we neglect the protection of the Turkish minority's rights; we have brought up the issue in several meetings with our Greek counterparts," he said. Davutoglu also stated that as a result of Turkey's efforts to improve the rights of the Greek minority, some Greek media have started to publish news reports that encourage the Greek authorities to extend rights to the Turkish minority in Western Thrace.