Reaction from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the appointment of a mufti to Greece

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a written statement regarding the Greek government's new appointments to the Komotini and Xanthi muftis, despite the objections of the Western Thrace Turkish Minority.

The Ministry reacted to Greece's failure to recognize the muftis chosen by the minority and called for the abandonment of the appointment practice.

In the statement published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on October 24, it was argued that Greece violated the fundamental rights and freedoms of the Western Thrace Turkish Minority.

The statement included the following statements:

“By appointing so-called muftis in Komotini and Xanthi, Greece continues to disregard the fundamental rights and freedoms of the Western Thrace Turkish Minority, guaranteed by the Lausanne Peace Treaty and international agreements.”

In the statement, it was noted that the institution of Mufti is an integral part of the identity of the Western Thrace Turkish Minority and the following evaluations were made:

"The institution of Mufti is an integral part of the religious, social and cultural identity of the Western Thrace Turkish Minority. By insisting on not recognizing the Muftis chosen by the Western Thrace Turkish Minority, which is an official minority in its country, Greece ignores the will and freedom of religion of the Minority and once again reveals its distorted perspective on fundamental human rights."

At the end of its statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on the Greek authorities and made the following statements:

“We call on the Greek authorities to recognize the legitimate Muftis elected by the Minority and to abandon attempts to impose appointed muftis.”

The Greek government made new appointments to the muftis of Komotini and Xanthi.

With the Presidential decree published in the Official Gazette of Greece, former Xanthi-appointed deputy mufti Bilal Kara Halil was appointed as Komotini Mufti.

Şükrü Şerif Damatoğlu, who worked as a religious official in Kos, was appointed as the Mufti of Xanthi. It was stated that the term of office of both names will be 5 years.