“Ankara is regrettably once again turning reality on its head in order to put forward positions which are unsubstantiated. We reject them through and through,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexandros Papaioannou said on Saturday.
Papaioannou said that Greek authorities decided to suspend the schools’ operation because they did not meet the minimum required number of nine pupils. He said a total of 29 non-minority primary schools had been closed for failing to meet the same standard.
“Therefore, it cannot be claimed that minority pupils are been subjected to unfair treatment,” he said.
“The educational policy decisions of the Greek state are made on the basis of equity and without discrimination for all Greek citizens, with the exclusive purpose of providing high quality education,” he said.
“The Muslim minority in Thrace numbers approximately 120,000 people. The Greek minority in Turkey does not exceed 3,000 people, while at the time of the Lausanne Treaty their numbers were equal. Regrettably for Turkey, the numbers speak their own undeniable truth about who respects and who implements the Lausanne Treaty,” he said.
In a statement on Friday, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic accused Greece of carrying out “discriminatory and oppressive policies” against what he described as the “Turkish minority” in Thrace.
“The Republic of Turkey will continue to support the minority’s struggle for its rights and justice, both in bilateral contacts and international platforms,” he said.
This post was last modified on July 24, 2022 1:28 pm