Greek patriots are cheering today following the voting of a controversial bill that will now allow Greek authorities to appoint imams in public schools and mosques in Western Thrace, just as it appoints clerics in the teaching of the Orthodox and Catholic, etc. religions. The bill, which was first initiated in 2007, failed to come into law due to strong resistance by some Muslim communities in the region which are negatively influenced by the Turkish Consulate in Komotini. The pleasant surprise was that some members of PASOK also supported this important law.
The bill was passed by a majority vote during the evening hours.
During the heated debates, Golden Dawn MP Panagotis Iliopulos slammed the Turkish deputy from the PASOK party, Ahmet Hacıosman, for having the audacity to be photographed in the presence of a provocative flag of a so-called autonomous Thrace while visiting a foundation in Turkey that claims to be dedicated to issues regarding this area. But he didn't stop there, he also flat out chracterized the PASOK MP of being a “Turkish agent” for the provocative Consulate in Komotini.
On his part, Golden Dawn MP Khirtos Papas, said that his party is going to work hard to prevent any Turkish deputy from being sworn into the Parliament. And Golden Dawn MP, Artemis Matthaiopoulos, said that if the government withdraws the amendment then the Prime Minister has to resign right away. "Golden Dawn says yes to the amendment because Turkey says no."
On his part Hacıosman might of said that visiting an association in the Turkish city of Bursa is not equal to being a “Turkish agent” and that he has always been loyal to and defended his country Greece, but he did not give any explanations as to why he was visting an association which endorses an autonomous Thrace.
During the debate he called on MPs not to listen to motions that lead to deadlock and then asked all not to support this amendment. "I wonder who wants to create tensions in the region ... as a representative of the minority they did not ask for my opinion .. I am ashamed of this amendment. Who took these decisions? It is going to do enormous damage. It is a heavy blow both at home and abroad ... If passed, it would hurt my homeland Greece and Thrace ... I will not put my signature. I urge the parties to vote against. To withdraw it."
His speech prompted veteran PASOK MP to literally explode in anger and he answered his colleague with some good old fashioned rhetoric whipping. Our colleague, said Kaklamanis, has to remember that that he does not speak for one minority, but rather for all the citizens in Rhodope where he is elected. "Maybe Hacıosman is upset but the proposal of PASOK is peace in Thrace."
Basically, Leftists were against the bill, because it goes against Turkish interests in the area of Thrace.
Now that the Bill has passed, the recruitment process will proceed as follows: (and not as the Turkish press has presented it).
The Ministry of Education will set up a five member committee to select the Imams. Its members will comprise of 1) a mufti, 2) an employee of the Ministry of Education, 3) a faculty member with expertise in Islamic studies, 4) a Muslim theologian who will be appointed by the Ministry of Education and 5) another Muslim theologian who be appointed by the mufti.
Those selected will sign a contract for nine of nine months with the Ministry of Education so that the phenomenon that was caused by Law 3536/2007, when the mufti of Komotini refused to sign the contracts of Imams - after pressure from the Turkish Consulate, is not repeated.
In their statements before the voting, Hacıosman and SYRIZA deputies Ayhan Karayusuf and Huseyin Zeybek had stated that they would unequivocally reject the bill if it comes to the agenda of the assembly.
Whether the Turkish Consulate in Komotini likes it or not, education has to be one, common and equal for all Hellenic citizens, whether they are Christian and/or Muslim.
Some may ask why are these issues only concentrated in Thrace? Well, the stories about the Turkish influence in Thrace are not out of story books, they are more than real, and very, very frightening. The truth is that the situation in Thrace is only getting worse. Turkey’s program of inciting the local Muslim population, whilst simultaneously raising minority concerns in bilateral relations with Greece is in full speed in the framework of gaining leverage on geopolitical issues. Many geo-strategists in Greece believe Turkey's long term designs are to create another Cyprus (or the threat of another Cyprus) and even perhaps another Kosovo whereby they use a false pretext, protecting a "threatened" Muslim minority, so that they can have a reason to invade another country.
In an article titled, “They are cultivating the climate for the minority” by Niko Meleti from the website, Infognomon, some of the strange developments that have been occurring amongst the Muslim community in Thrace guided by the support of Turkey were highlighted.
For example, in 2009, Mustafa Sarnits, Turkish Consul General in Komotini, during the attendance of a children’s graduation ceremony of “Koran Koursou”, one of the many Islamic denominational schools which have filled Thrace, went to a Pomak village of Kechros and gave this message:
... I see here a Turkish community in abnegation. Continue this struggle without succumbing and support Turkism, thanks to you Turkism will continue in Thrace and will continue to live ...Sarnits, a few days later visited the Pomak village of Chloe, to participate in celebrations in which certain people are trying to re-introduce the “Forty Kourbania” (the forty sacrifices). The event is in memory of forty soldiers of Turk Suleiman Pasha, who fell in the struggle for the conquest of Thrace in the 14th century!
Many people who work together or on the part of the Turkish Consulate are also urging Muslims to send their children to minority-only schools (and not bilingual public schools), so as to further the reach of Islamic Turkish identity. In other words, so the process of Turkification can continue.
Obviously, these incidents have raised legitimate concerns about the methodical and systematic effort of the Turkish Consulate - surpassing its mission and terms of reference - to cultivate favorable grounds for the demands of Turkey to interfere directly and in a divisive manner in the internal affairs of Greece.
Of interest is also a classified document (No. 1044 / 12 September 2008) from the National Intelligence Service (EYP), and which was revealed by the magazine “Epikaira”, claiming that the intense involvement of the US Consulate in Thessaloniki in this region as well. According to the document the ultimate goal was the manipulation of the Greek Muslim minority and its subsequent exploitation to serve American interests in the region.
The Greek secret services highlighted the very strong interest shown by U.S. officials on issues related to minority education, going so far as to exert pressure even on a specific teacher working in a minority elementary school in the village Megalos Dereios in Evros. The teacher was the well-known Chara Nikopoulou, who, after having provoked the wrath of the Turkish consulate in Komotini, because she strongly argued that her students being Pomaks were not Turks, she was subsequently targeted by the Greek Ministry of Education, which swiftly transferred her, criticizing her for exercising foreign policy inside the school.
Speaking of the Pomak community, through lies and deceit, Turkophiles in Thrace are working towards creating the regime and pseudo state they have long been wishing for. Local Turkish-bred officials won't let Pomaks build homes of their own, yet they conveniently shift the blame on the Greek state. The intimidation of Greek Muslim Pomaks by hired stool pigeons of the Turkish Consulate in Komotini has been publicly denounced on more than one occasion, and the ways in which Ankara has been trying for years to embrace the Muslim population of Greek Thrace is well documented.
Admittedly, all too often, the practices employed by Consulate officials can be traced back to a series of fateful mishandling on the part of the Greek state in previous decades, such as its refusal to tear down any barrier that led to the Pomaks' isolation, which has since impacted on their lives in multiple ways. Thank heavens that was in the past, and things have now changed.
The most pervasive change perceived in the Pomak population is the restoration of trust in the Greek authorities, which has resulted in their feeling encouraged enough to invest funds -- small, yet effective -- in business start ups, new housing projects or attempts to rebuild already existing homes. This change-of-heart and newly experienced entrepreneurial drive among Greek Pomaks is the effect of the horrendous exploitation they suffered in the hands of a promised 'Turkish homeland'.
One only needs to consider the physical abuse and kidnappings of Pomaks by Turkish nationals, once the former attempted to claim part of their earnings from their investments, in order to begin to grasp the enormity of the collective crime perpetrated in the region. The Turks not only apparently abused the Pomaks, but also demanded ransom to allow them to return to their families, or so some reports say. Still, the Pomaks' willingness to invest in the land, i.e. in the construction of new homes and the rebuilding of ancestral ones turned out to be a pivotal issue that gave rise to a series of turbulent developments, masterfully orchestrated by Ankara and its agent provocateurs within the local government system of Thrace, i.e. councillors and mayors.
Interestingly enough, such interventionist practices of Turkish-bred officials could be observed in the municipalities of Selero and Myki, within the prefecture of Xanthi, where Turkophile sentiments run high and local government officials are in effect puppets of the self-proclaimed mufti Ahmed Mete, as well as of any appointed consul in Komotini.
As was expected, the 'boys' of the Turkish Consulate in Komotini took full advantage of the Greek administrative disorder and rigidity in order to convince the Pomaks that the Greek state is solely to blame and will do anything in its power to block the construction of new homes by the Pomak population, which, needless to say, is a preposterous lie. This lie was easily turned into a propaganda tool in the hands of the Turkish Consulate, now busy manufacturing slurs against the 'insensitive' Greek state, which has supposedly put a ban on the construction of Pomak homes, thus forcing the Pomak population to live in a 'cramped enclave', while their living standard keeps declining, as they have no choice but to live in deprivation. That, in short, is the crux of the masterfully manufactured Turkish propaganda in Thrace.
According to local administrative red tape that was typical of previous decades, the issuing of a permit for the construction of a house fell in the jurisdiction of the local Department of Urban Infrastructure operating in each prefecture. As a result of the changes brought about by the Kapodistrias project, initiated by the Greek government, it is now the local municipal authorities that have that jurisdiction. They are responsible for setting up a municipal urban infrastructure service, hire any necessary staff and allocate funds off the municipal budget for various purposes.
Sadly, the Turkish-bred local administration officials chose not to set up that service, despite the fact that they were well aware of the fact that their decision, or lack thereof, would impact on the lives of any Greek Muslim Pomaks wishing to apply for a permit in order to build a new home. When the Pomaks protested against the absence of a local permit-issuing service, a debate flared up. Eventually, the service was set up, but the Pomaks were now faced with another hurdle: no new houses could be built as there was no prior urban-planning study to enable a decision to expand the borders of the Pomak community. To make matters worse, there was no effort whatsoever on the part of Turkish-bred officials to obtain the approval necessary for the funding of such a study. That left the Pomaks of the tiny community of Glafki, in the municipality of Myki, with no other choice but, either to build on already existing property or, worse even, to give up trying and leave the area, since they were not even allowed to build a chicken coop outside the borders of their community.
Meanwhile, the problem that has emerged as a result of the local administration inertia is being used as a pretext for the launching of another round of anti-Greek propaganda by Ankara. "They won't let us build our homes," moan the Turkish-hired agents in the coffee houses, purposefully failing to name the actual perpetrators. What it all boils down to is a new impasse for the Pomak population, for which the local Turkish-bred officials are wholly to blame, and yet that blame is placed on the Greek state, since no one dares to inform the Pomaks -- for fear of undergoing what the Pomaks already have -- that it is now the local mayor and town councillors that are in charge of urban planning issues, including any decisions affecting the drafting and redefining of the borders of a community as well as the issuing of new construction permits.
In case anyone should wonder how the Greek state has reacted to yet another wave of slander against it, typically, it has done absolutely nothing to help the truth and hard facts to surface. For unspecified reasons, the government mechanism has gone into hibernation and does not seem capable of pointing to the true nature and roots of the problem, or intervening to facilitate the surmounting of obstacles mindfully or mindlessly set up and used as means of propaganda by the Consulate circles.
And there you have it. The vote, might be a minor step at solving some of our national issues but at least it is a step. Seriously, how can any patriot allow Thrace to become a field where any enemy can roam free, planting the seeds of Turkish propaganda? How can people who love this country and its rich history allow the spreading of negative impressions and doubts to loom as to the effectiveness of the Greek welfare state and the degree of equality and equity that all Greek citizens? Especially with Greek Muslims.
In such a framework, the State, and especially the Ministry of Foreign Affairs -- which, for some VERY ODD reason, happens to be in charge of a number of issues relating to Thrace (or was during the Papandreou era) -- ought to collaborate so that at least part of the "armory" of Turkish propaganda can be eliminated.
Some might say that is wishful thinking on our part, and we here at HellasFrappe would agree with them, but our hope is that the present government correct the wrongdoings of the past, (and especially those made during PASOK's rule) which were totally passive and always had an awkwardly silent stance on many issues in this region.
References
- Defencenet
- madata.gr
- newsbomb
- antifonitis
- infognomonpolitics
- proxeneio-stop
- HellasFrappe Archive - Classified documents reveal US energy coup & Papandreou's retreat on FYROM
- HellasFrappe Archive - Yes Virginia: Modern Heroes Do Exist: The Story of Hara Nikopoulou
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