Response of the Greek Foreign Ministry to Turkiye: ‘The Muslim minority of Thrace is a religious minority'

"The Muslim Minority of Thrace is simply a spiritual minority. The Treaty of Lausanne of 1923, which governs its ineligible status, does not let for aggregate interpretations, and its religious—not its ethnic—character is indisputable," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized connected Thursday successful its effect to the Turkish Foreign Ministry regarding the Muslim number of Thrace.

The Ministry underlined that successful the Treaty of Lausanne "no proviso is made for the predetermination of Muftis by the Minority, nor could this beryllium the lawsuit fixed that they besides transportation judicial and administrative responsibilities," and noted:

"The Greek State, with Law 4964/2022, provided for the constitution of a committee composed of members of the Minority, including women, which evaluates and proposes the astir suitable candidates for the presumption of Mufti. In implementation of this law, the assignment of the caller Mufti of Didymoteicho has been completed, portion calls for applications for the positions of Muftis successful Xanthi and Komotini person already been published. And each this astatine a clip when, successful Turkiye itself, Muftis are appointed."

In conclusion, the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed that Greece, arsenic a European rule-of-law state, handles issues concerning the Muslim Minority of Thrace with afloat responsibility, "on the ground of the principles of equality earlier the instrumentality and adjacent civilian rights, and supra each ensures the spiritual state of its members," making wide that this volition not change.

"This volition not change, conscionable arsenic the designation of the Minority arsenic provided by planetary instrumentality volition not alteration either, simply due to the fact that immoderate garbage to judge what is self-evident," it noted.