FUEN condems recent activities against Rhodos and Kos Turks
29.07.2019The FUEN criticizes the closure of places of worship which are of great importance in the religious life of Rhodes and Kos Turks, and condemns the sale of real estate properties as an important source of income in meeting social, cultural and religious needs of Turks on the islands.
Mosques and charitable organizations i.e. pious foundations belonging to the Turks of Rhodes (Rodos) and Kos (İstanköy) in Greece, a member minority group of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN), are being abandoned or disposed due to unlawful and arbitrary practices of Greece. The FUEN criticizes the closure of places of worship which are of great importance in the religious life of Rhodes and Kos Turks, and condemn the sale of real estate properties as an important source of income in meeting social, cultural and religious needs of Turks on the islands.
In the Turkish village of Germe (Platani), Defterdar Haci Ibrahim Efendi Mosque and Gazi Hasan Pasha Mosque, which were damaged due to the earthquake in July 2017 were closed for worship on the grounds of restoration. However, the restoration of the two mosques by the Greek authorities still has not been started. Currently, there is no mosque open to worship where Turks living in Kos can pray.
In January 2019, 34 acres of land owned by the Muslim Turkish Foundation of Kos were sold to a tourism company for 181 thousand euros with the approval of the management committee of vakf properties, of which members are appointed by the state. With this unlawful sale, more than 70 lands owned by Kos Muslim Turkish Foundation has been transferred and sold to municipalities for the purpose of car park, park and cemetery. A similar situation happens on the island of Rhodes.
According to the relevant regulation in Greece, properties belonging to foundations cannot be bought, sold, cannot be acquired and divided as inheritance. Although Orthodox Christian Church is exempt from all kinds of taxes in Greece, Turkish foundations in Rhodes and Kos are subject to the same tax regulation as commercial organizations. Properties belonging to these foundations are sold by the vakf administration of which members are appointed by the state.
FUEN asks Greece to respect the freedoms of religion and worship of the Turkish community in Rhodes and Kos, stop appointment of board members of vakf administrative committees and unlawful sale of vakf properties.
Пресс релизы
- The ongoing war in Ukraine forces the Crimean Tatars to withdraw from EUROPEADA 2024
- This is the beginning: minority experts from all over Europe answer FUEN's call
- Experts gather to discuss ways forward for minority protection at FUEN’s conference in Brussels
- The first meeting of the Working Group of Hungarian Communities in FUEN was held in Lendava, Slovenia
- FUEN’s Working Group of Hungarian Communities holds its first working meeting in Slovenia
- Transforming a vision into reality: Minority Monitor presents the Bijeljina Minority Commissioner
- EUROPEADA 2024: The game schedules are now available
- Официальный представитель FUEN, Халит Хабип Оглу, встретился с Генеральным секретарем Организации тюркских государств Омуралиевым
- Minority Calendar 2024: FUEN invites you on a culinary journey through Europe's minority cuisines
- FUEN’s European Dialogue Forum meets Council of Europe leaders, Members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg