7 yıl önce

Turkish Muslims in Greece 'treated as second-class citizens'

Turkish Muslims in Greece say their rights as a minority are being taken away by the state as elected religious leaders are no longer recognised by the government.

TRTWorld

Ibrahim Serif, the elected religious leader of Komotini. March 6, 2018.

The selection of Muslim community leaders is one of the biggest problems for Turkish Muslims living in Greece.

At the end of World War One, part of the Ottoman Empire became Greece and under the Treaty of Lausanne, Turkish Muslims who stayed were allowed to elect their own religious leaders.

However, Turkish Muslims' identities and rights in the region of Western Thrace are slowly being eroded. About 150,000 members of the community live in Western Thrace.

TRT World's Caitlin McGee reports from Xanthi, where community-elected religious leaders are now no longer recognised by the government.