Our Honourable people,

Over the past few months, both local and national Greek press and politicians are endeavouring to create a perception that the Friendship Equality Peace Party’s political position is one that is extreme. This conscious but futile effort is a deliberate effort for us to abandon our struggle for justice and to trivialise our struggle. The FEP Party’s struggle for rights has continued to date within democracy and laws. Our party, which advocates friendship equality and fraternity has and will continue with its struggle to eliminate the injustices faced by the Western Thrace Muslim Turkish Minority and to gain its rights arising from international treaties. Accusing our Party and the Western Thrace Turkish community of ‘racism’ is nothing more than a conscious perception operation directed at the FEP Party, which advocates minority rights. Efforts to associate our party and minority, who are subjected to racism everyday, with ‘extreme ends’ is equivalent to politically deflecting goals and political immorality.

Is it a crime for a minority to claim its identity? Do individuals and communities not have the freedom of self-identification? Is it not a democratic and legal right to demand our historic associations whose titles harbour our identity are formalised, as settled by the European Court of Human Rights? Is it not a democratic right to propose votes as an ultimate solution to those who object and in order to solve the problem of identity?

When evaluated in terms of freedom of religion and beliefs; with which articles of democracy and international treaties cannot showing respect to the muftis elected with the freewill of the minority and what is more appointment of imams to mosques without consent via pressures of the law be explained? Which law can explain the abolition of the minority’s free will to administrate ancestry foundation? What conscience can defend this injustice?

How can 57 minority schools without considering special circumstances and liaising with school boards and parents be closed, when minority educational rights are established with open international treaties? Why deny children to receive bilingual Turkish- Greek education with bilingual Turkish - Greek minority kindergartens? With which logic and why is the need for minority secondary and high schools obstructed?
What scale of democracy can explain the electoral threshold applied to independent candidates? Why are gateways for public sector employment to minority members closed? Please explain the number of public workers from the majority and minority in the Province of Rhodope? Are we on the contradictory because we are advocating equality? Please again explain the share received from the economy by the majority and minority!
On 8th December 2015, the FEP Party was attacked and late leader Dr. Sadik Ahmet’s vehicle in which he had an accident was stolen, whilst waiting for the perpetrators to be caught and brought to justice, 3 separate investigations were initiated against FEP Party Executives. Who with which conscience of justice can explain this? If, criminal investigations instigated against our Party’s executives by the racist Golden Dawn party and accusing our Party of racism is not an operation of perception than what is it?

In addition, the European Free Alliance (EFA) which has 45 minority member parties and forms a group with the European Green Party in the European Parliament. We are pleased to be a part and to be in cooperation with this establishment. We strongly condemn the fact that EFA President Francois Alfonsi was subjected to insulting accusations for his support to the FEP Party during the course of investigations and criminal proceedings by those circles who accuse and are active in a perception operation.
We recommend that everybody once again reads Articles 37 to Article 45 on the Protection of Minorities in the International Lausanne Treaty. We invite our country Greece, who signed the treaty to remain faithful to its signature.

Ridiculing with people when trying to show the FEP Party, which voices these democratic wishes, as an ‘extremist’ and pushing the FEP Party towards the ends of the political fan when it only wants justice, equality and peace cannot be explained with conscience or democratic measures.

The democratic struggle of the Western Thrace Muslim Turkish Community and the FEP Party is a rightful struggle which cannot be covered up with perception operations, slanders, denigrations and accusations.

As the FEP Party we share with our honourable people and public that until the Western Thrace Muslim Turkish Minority’s rights and freedoms arising from international treaties are granted and until equal citizenship rights are enjoyed we will continue to voice on every platform our demands and requests.


With all respect,
Mustafa Ali Cavus
FEP Party President