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The ''Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe'' (Turkish: ''Avrupa Batı Trakya Türk Federasyonu'', short: ''ABTTF'', Greek: ''Ευρωπαϊκή Ομοσπονδία Τούρκων Δυτικής Θράκης'', short: ''ΕΟΤΔΘ'') established in 1988 in Germany as a nonprofit umbrella organization by seven founding associations in Germany and with participation of the Association of Western Thrace Turks in the UK, the organisation adopted its current name, Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe. With headquarters in Witten, Germany, ABTTF is represented through an office in Brussels, Belgium, since 2010. The organization has 29 member associations in Germany and one in England〔(Die Mitgliedsvereine )〕 that, in total, it unites 6.000 affiliated members. ABTTF is the first organization that has been granted special consultative status by the United Nations Economic and Social Council as a representative body of the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace. == History == The Convention concerning the exchange of Greek and Turkish populations〔()〕 signed on 30 January 1923 in the aftermath of the Greco-Turkish War 1919-22 exempted the exchange of Muslim Turkish population living in Western Thrace and the Greek Orthodox minority in Istanbul and on the islands of Imbros (Gökçeada) and Tenedos (Bozcaada). Geographically Western Thrace covers the provinces of Komotini, Xanthi and Evros and is situated between Evros River on the eastern frontier of Greece with Turkey and the Rodophe mountains on the north, which constitute Greece's natural border with Bulgaria. Treaty of Lausanne, further to the agreed Convention on exchange of both populations, regulated at the same time the status and rights of remaining folks in each undersigning state of the Treaty. A population of 150.000 Muslim Turks living in Western Thrace were granted therefore the official minority status. The Turkish Muslim Minority’s status in Western Thrace is explicitly defined within the Articles 37-44 of the Lausanne Treaty. According to the officially granted minority status within the Section III of the Treaty of Lausanne, Turkish Minority of Western Thrace are given equal rights to “establish, manage and control at their own expense any charitable, religious and social institutions, any schools and other establishments for instruction and education, with the right to use their own language and to exercise their own religion freely therein”. From 1950s on, Greek authorities did not comply with obligations undersigned in the Treaty, which gave way to considerable human rights violations. Growing political instability due to the Greek civil war followed by the Greek military junta of 1967-1974 further instigated Greek nationalism thus, exacerbated the situation of minorities, in particular of the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace. Increased tensions over Greece-Turkey relations during this period were reflected as suppression and assimilation policies started against the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace in 1960s and grew in intensity through 1970s. The policies put in place by Greek authorities with motivations of intimidation of the respective minority have manifested themselves as “dissolution” of the Minority and eventually leaving territories by means of “forced migration”. Unconstitutional denaturalization policy due to the former Article 19 of Greek Nationality Code, which was in force in 1955-1998, stipulated “a person of non-Greek ethic origin leaving Greece without the intention of returning may be declared as having lost Greek nationality....” clearly aimed at elimination of Turkish Minority of Western Thrace from the region. Being threatened at multiple dimensions of their lives; be it social, political, economic and cultural spheres, the Turkish Minority were forced to migrate. While the vast majority of migration wave was towards Turkey, some groups chose to migrate to European countries, in particular to Germany. Today, including the third generation, population of Western Thrace Turks in Germany amounts to 30.000. Except overseas like Australia, the United States of America and Canada, there is a considerable number of Western Thrace Turkish population living dispersed in other EU Member States, such as the Netherlands, England, Sweden, France, Belgium and Austria. The need to keep alive their socio-cultural values and maintain solidarity in their host countries led the Western Thrace Turks to summon under collectively created associations. In Germany, the first Western Thrace Turks Association was established on 1 January 1978 in the city of Giessen of the state Hessen. This was followed by foundation of other Western Thrace Turks Associations in Stuttgart, Homburg/Saar, Munich, Düsseldorf, Kelsterbach and so on. The dramatic rise in the number of associations established by the Western Thrace Turks living in Europe has been a response to Greece’s assimilation policies pursued towards the Minority in the region. In the beginning of 1980s, despite being accessed to the EU as a fully member, the successive Greek governments have not given up from their suppression policy against minority groups, primarily to the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace. At that stage, initial reactions were raised through the Western Thrace Turks’ associations established in Germany. Western Thrace Turks associations in Germany, whose number were on a constant increase, have established Coordination Committees aimed at advanced cooperation and increased solidarity. The efforts invested on this way gave its fruits on 28 February 1988 with official establishment of Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Germany co-founded by seven member associations. By establishment of the new federation in Germany, Western Thrace Turks attained a large sphere of representation, which assured the political, social, cultural, educational and other problems of the Minority to be voiced on international arena as well as coordination and cooperation between other associations established by the Western Thrace Turks. With its increasing number of member associations, Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Germany has become Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe in 1996 by receiving Association of Western Thrace Turks in the UK on board. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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