Istanbul/Anadolu

The Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned Greece's decision to close 8 primary schools belonging to the Turkish minority in Western Thrace, on the pretext of insufficient student numbers.

Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Öncü Keçeli said in a post on the US-based platform X on Sunday that the number of primary schools belonging to the Turkish minority had dropped to 76 after the decision.

He added: 'We condemn Greece's decision to close eight primary schools belonging to the Turkish minority in Western Thrace on the pretext of insufficient student numbers.'

He pointed out that imposing new obstacles to the enrollment of first-grade students in the first primary school of the Turkish minority in the city of İskeçe constitutes another example of systematic practices aimed at undermining the educational rights of the Turkish minority in Western Thrace.

He stressed that this decision and these practices constitute a violation of the provisions of the Treaty of Lausanne.

Keçeli added: 'We call on Greece to act in line with its treaty obligations regarding minority rights and fundamental human rights, instead of refraining from implementing international court rulings and recommendations of major European institutions that have documented violations of the Turkish minority's rights in Western Thrace.'

He stressed that Turkey will continue to support the struggle of the Turkish minority in Western Thrace for their rights.

Western Thrace in Greece is home to a Muslim Turkish minority numbering about 150,000, and it often faces discriminatory policies because authorities consider it a religious rather than an ethnic minority.

Although the Treaty of Lausanne (signed on July 24, 1923) includes provisions that effectively recognize the existence of Turks in Western Thrace, the Greek government does not recognize the ethnic identity of the minority, arguing that the term 'Turkish minority' is not included in the treaty text.