Dr. Sadık Ahmet, born within the village of Küçük Sirkeli within the Gümülcine province of Western Thrace in 1947, accomplished his medical research in Ankara and Thessaloniki after which served within the Greek military for about 3 years as a part of obligatory army service.
Imprisoned for saying “Turk”
Returning to his household as a doctor in 1978, Sadık Ahmet initiated a signature marketing campaign in 1985 to attract consideration to human rights violations in Western Thrace. However, in 1988, as a result of marketing campaign, he was sentenced to 30 months in jail.
In 1990, Ahmet obtained one other jail sentence for addressing the Turkish minority in Western Thrace as “Turk.”
Before going to jail, Dr. Ahmet made one among his most well-known declarations, saying, “I am being taken to prison simply because I am Turkish. If being Turkish is a crime, I repeat: I am Turkish, and I will remain so.”
During Dr. Ahmet’s trial in Gümülcine, hundreds of individuals gathered outdoors the courthouse to indicate their assist. They chanted slogans like “We are Turkish” in solidarity with him.
In his article titled “Complaints and Demands of the Turkish Community Living in Western Thrace,” written in 1995, Dr. Sadık Ahmet wrote the next traces:
“Since Western Thrace was handed over to Greece, Greek administrations have always seen the Turkish communities as a threat. The policies implemented based on this belief can be grouped under two main headings. Firstly, forcing the Turkish community into migration, and secondly, assimilating them if migration does not occur.”
DENIAL OF THE “TURKISH” IDENTITY BY GREECE
Dr. Sadık Ahmet, in the identical titled article beneath the subheading “Denial of the Turkish Identity,” made the next statements:
“The fact that their mother tongue is Turkish, their traditions, customs, religion, and national identities all clearly indicate that the minority is Turkish. Greek state officials and authorities at all levels deny the race of the community and only claim they are Muslim. They go even further to dare to claim that the race of the community is Greek. In order to defend these allegations, organizations like the ‘Gümülcine Turkish Youth Union’ established in 1928, the ‘Western Thrace Turkish Teachers Union’ established in 1936, and later the ‘Xanthi Turkish Union’ were closed down, on the basis of the idea that there are no Turks in Western Thrace, and that being Turkish only signifies Turkish citizenship, as approved by the judgments of the Court of First Instance, Court of Appeal, and later by the Court of Cassation.”
Greece’s implementation of such insurance policies is in violation of Article 14 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
Miçotakis’ Reaction to “Western Thrace”: We are Turkish
Greece nonetheless continues to disclaim the Turkish id.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ characterization of the Western Thrace Turks as a “religious minority” throughout his go to to Xanthi on April twenty seventh obtained reactions. Halit Habipoğlu, the President of the European Western Thrace Turkish Federation, stated, “We are Turks who have been living in these lands for centuries.”
The Turks not solely face difficulties to find locations for training and worship but in addition wrestle to search out cemeteries because the Greek authorities don’t grant permission for Muslim cemeteries.
For years, the deceased have been buried in cemeteries positioned a whole lot of kilometers away from their place of residence.
To stop Sadık Ahmet from being elected, Greece launched a 3% election threshold for each political events and unbiased candidates.
Sadık Ahmet misplaced his life in a suspicious site visitors accident on July 24, 1995, on the age of 48, on the 73rd anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne, whereas he was advocating for the rights of the minority in Western Thrace.
In Western Thrace, he took on the management of the Muslim-Turkish neighborhood, numbering round 150,000 folks, who confronted oppression from the Greek state in the course of the Seventies and Eighties.
Sadık Ahmet concluded his writing “Complaints and Desires of the Turkish Community Living in Western Thrace” with the next phrases:
“We expect and demand respect for the human right of the Western Thrace Turk to live with dignity in the place where they were born and raised, and to be treated as equal citizens, respecting their race, language, religion, traditions, and customs.”
Years have handed because the passing of Sadık Ahmet, who advocated for the rights of the Western Thrace Turks till the top of his life, and the folks of Western Thrace proceed to withstand Greece’s repressive and obstructive insurance policies.
Source: www.anews.com.tr
