Greece's shutdown of schools in Western Thrace labeled as an 'absorption strategy'
In August 2025, Greece closed several Turkish minority primary schools in Western Thrace, including in Kardere, Mehrikos, and Hasanlar villages. This move has been criticised by Turkish minority representatives as a deliberate assimilation effort, violating international law.
The Friendship Equality Peace Party (DEB) General Chairman, Cigdem Asafoglu, describes this as a demographic engineering project designed to assimilate the Turkish minority culturally and linguistically, which she asserts constitutes a crime under international law.
The closures are part of a long-term trend that has seen the number of Turkish minority schools shrink from about 210 two decades ago to just 83 today, under the pretext of declining student numbers. Asafoglu accuses Greece of passing laws without consulting the minority's legitimate representatives.
According to Turkish minority leaders, Greece selectively applies the 1923 Lausanne Treaty, which grants autonomous status to Turkish minority schools, but breaches it when it suits state interests—for example, denying the minority the right to self-identify as Turkish and closing or restricting Turkish-language schools.
Additional alleged violations by Greece include:
- Denial of the minority’s right to elect their own religious leaders.
- Refusal to open private bilingual (Greek-Turkish) kindergartens.
- Restrictions imposed on Turkish minority associations, especially those using the word “Turkish” in their names, despite multiple rulings from the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) affirming freedom of association rights.
- Greek courts and authorities interpret references to "Turkish" identity as nationality-based threats rather than recognition of a minority group, reflecting a policy denying the existence of a Turkish national minority in Western Thrace.
The European Court of Human Rights has issued several rulings against Greece for violating freedom of association and minority rights, but Greek authorities have largely failed to implement these decisions. Turkey and Turkish minority representatives continue to urge Greece to comply with international standards and treaties to guarantee the rights of the Turkish Muslim minority in Western Thrace.
Asafoglu plans to challenge school closures through political and legal channels, including the European Parliament, where DEB holds representation. She argues that schools cannot be shut down under the 1923 Lausanne Treaty, even if student numbers fall.
Discrimination against the Turkish minority extends beyond education, affecting economics, agriculture, and personal rights, according to Asafoglu. Some 150,000 Muslim Turks in Western Thrace have long complained about deteriorating conditions and see the community as a "hostage" of its ties with Türkiye.
The ongoing closures and restrictions on Turkish minority schools in Western Thrace are viewed as a violation of the 1923 Lausanne Treaty and international human rights law, including rulings from the European Court of Human Rights. The Turkish minority faces systematic challenges to their cultural and linguistic heritage, sparking international concern and calls for action.
- The European Court of Human Rights has accused Greece of not implementing decisions that aim to protect the Turkish Muslim minority's rights in Western Thrace, particularly in education, as part of a long-term trend that has seen a decline in Turkish minority schools under Greek policy-and-legislation.
- Turkish minority leaders maintain that Greece selectively applies the 1923 Lausanne Treaty, as they allege that Greek courts and authorities often breach the treaty by denying rights such as the ability to self-identify as Turkish and closing or restricting Turkish-language schools.
- Political and legal challenges from the Friendship Equality Peace Party (DEB) argue that Turkish minority schools, like those in Kardere, Mehrikos, and Hasanlar, cannot be shut down under the 1923 Lausanne Treaty, even if student numbers fall, and call for Greece to respect international cultural and linguistic rights guaranteed by the treaty and human rights laws.
