Greek Muslims: Problems and Aspirations By Mehmet Imam and Ramandan Salioglou

As Pan Hellenic Federation of Supporting the Muslims in Greece “The Filotita” we are an agency which established from Thracian Muslims and not only in order to succeed together to declare our existence and problems in Greek and European milieu.

The “Filotita” is an intracultural, social and non governmental organization. Since 1997 until now we have been functioning officially. Moreover in order to correspond to the various needs of our community of Muslims in Greece under the auspices of the administrative board of “Filotita” and as a specialized agency in the subjects concerning immigrants and refugees, in cultural, intracultural as well as the Minority issues in Greece. An essential part of our agency is our scientific team which consists of Muslims and Christians specialists. We should refer here that our scientific team everything they had offered are voluntary contribution and although they had submitted researches, studies, projects and a strategic plan for the support of Greek and foreign Muslims to the Greek State, all those projects are on the shelf and the authorities of Greek State had lied to us. Especially the Strategic Plan was ordered by the Greek State, but although they had promised to fund the effort they have been layers to our scientists since four years now. We assume that this act happened by the Greek State in order to succeed disappointment in our community. The members in our administrative board are not academics but since a scientific team exists and support us, the Greek State faces difficulties. That is the main reason the Greek State tries after 2000 to “buy” all those scientists who consist our scientific team.

In our land it is well known that indigenous Muslims exist in Northern Greece, Thrace. Although they are Greek citizens many injustice actions had been done against them. The Treaty of Lausanne or other protocols have never fully implemented. Recently all those people do not participate in the social and European common goods, as for example the funds from the Organization of Labor Force which are given to those who work seasonably and to the unemployed people, who happens to be citizens of the European Union as well.

What could we say about all these people who live out of Thrace? Today, only in Athens our children cannot learn their mother language, their religion and that fact cause serious problems to the families and in our children. Every year we are forced to send our wives with the children to Thrace. This action cause psychological and social discourse not only to our children but also to our wives. Some they claim that our wives do not work but how they can work since they are forced every summer to immigrate to Thrace? Nobody trusts them in order to give them some job to do. Also, there is no infrastructure for our children. Some parents dare to send their children from the beginning to the common schools but to the end they find themselves lost in the contact with them. Therefore, in the common schools the children of the Muslims are taught the Christianity.

Even the dogs in this land except us, even if we are numbering over 500,000 people, have cemetery in the region of Athens. On one side Mr Christodoulos announced that they are going to give a space for this use, from the other side in the Parliament they have submitted the Law for all those people who are not Christians Orthodox to be bunt in fire after their death.

We are forced to pray in basements since there are no places of worship. During our grate celebrations we use to pray, if we are allowed, to open spaces as parks, athletic stadiums, parking areas and streets under the sun, rain or snow.
Concerning matters of labor and occupation what can we say? We are accepted nor to the public neither to the private sector as clerks or executives. Recently the Ministry of Development has taken the entire license for the open folk markets, thus we can not sell even fruits, vegetables or other everyday goods.

Concerning matters of social insurance and human rights no rule has been kept in this land especially if a Muslim is a foreigner. The Laws until now are made only for taking money from the people and we would say that they are chauvinistic, racist, and are made for those people who stand in the middle. A refugee needs 600 euros to submit an application with an unknown result. This application is not a guarantee for permit or to be recognized as refugee but only to take the rejection paper for his application. According to the new Law if a foreigner wants to be legalized, he needs 3,000-3,500euros approximately. There are many who paid for the stamps of social insurance or other tickets and are standing in the air. Although we have spoken about that, the Law should contain every person who is illegally in Greece until now. This seems to be as a throw under the chest against all immigrants.

Concerning the matters of Pakistani community is nothing comparing to others. Everybody who submitted or asked for their rights they have been deported. For many years the Public Sector gained money from these people since they have paid everything as the stamps, their taxes etc. For those people the right to defend themselves, having a lawyer as representative, is not recognized. The force and violence which has been made against our people in our hostels is another big problem. We have considered those people living in our hostels as gangsters after the attacks we had but of course they are not. These attacks in the middle of the night had as a main purpose to lead the people to the guest houses of the Greek Orthodox Church where they can be harmonized. These are the values and the human rights of the Western civilization.

Our educational system is the big patient since the children on the Rodopi Mountain in Thrace are educated through books in photocopies published in 1942-52 and in which is referred that Man is preparing to go on the Moon!!! All teachers in this land are graduated from Universities, but our teachers are graduated from a Specialized Academy. They are obliged to teach in Turkish without knowing Turkish!!!
Half of the Mosques in Thrace that is a part of our cultural heritage have been left to collapse or they have been left to the hands of God. In Crete they have Mosques in order to keep inside the animals and the Ministry of Culture in Mytilini has given the permission to break it down. In Didimotiho, Nothern Greece, our Holy Place is used as a bar!!! As Pan Hellenic Federation of Muslims in Greece we had proposed to register all the Islamic monuments and sacred places, as the Mosques, but the Ministry of Exterior with some traders of our community (Muftides) took the money and they couldn’t finally do it in the area of Xanthi. So, now the Greek State can brake down every Mosque that it hadn’t been registered. That is the reason they made it in such a way in order to spend the whole budget from European Union for their own pockets. All that money was enough to register all the monuments in Greece!!!
In the Mountainous area of Rodopi the State have taken the license for the culture of tobacco without give them any money instead. But in other areas they have taken money in order to survive or do something else. Our people are forced to death.
They have carried animals with the assistance of the State from Bulgaria and those people who are traders are getting all the funds and other people who should take those funds cannot.

Except our Federation there is no other agency in Thrace to defend the truth because since 1987 and after it is for bitten. Some agencies which exist are not authorized and legitimized and furthermore they are telling lies to the people. The issue concerning the “Muftides” is well known and their job has become little by little to make the people not to visit the Mosques and they make ceremonies of marriage for children of 13 years old thus, they create social problems.

Under these circumstances and various efforts we are trying to struggle. The assistance of Greek state is to create problems to us, nothing else.
Since one hundred years now if the Greek State has given job to one hundred people every year from our community, no problem would exist now. The official documents refer that unemployment is approximately 11,5% for the greater area in Thrace in the frames of Minority in Thrace this average is up to 78%. Everybody who claimed to be farmer is completely poor so that is why no social insurance and medical care. In Athens for our people who are labors the unemployment is almost 88-90%. This is the main reason we cannot cover our needs in the Federation because our members are very poor.

Also we would like to note the following points:

1. When PASOK was the Government in Greece at least we had the opportunity and chance to speak on T.V. and radio for our problems so the public could be directly informed. Now in the days of Nea Democratia party is in Government we are excluded. Those people who appear on media are not representatives of our community; they are just followers of the system.

2. Those people who are settled from our community are followers of the system. This happens in Thrace and in the whole Greek land.

3. The Greek State in order to cover all the dirty decisions has created mostly after 1998 many agencies which they seem to be representatives of the Muslim community but they are not indeed. Thus, if somebody asks for a non governmental organization they can point one, which is going to cover their dirty policy. Those agencies are functioning in the framework of European Union and they get funds from there and also from secret budget of the Ministry of Interior.

4. Through the programmes many has been owners of luxurious houses and cruise boats but for us the result was a big Zero.

5. The party which is now the Government, Nea Dimokratia, takes care only those whose origin are from Pontos and we call them “Rossopontioi” meaning the people with origin from Pontos area and Russia. The main reason for the existence of this policy is that Pontioi are Christian Orthodox and not Muslims.

As community in the frames of Greek State we have never had any assistance. Moreover, they continue to ignore our human and citizenship rights and they cause us problems.

Nowadays all ethnicities in Greece have their own representatives and their own agencies. It does not matter that they are manipulated by the system. All that matters is the existence of their community, for example Bulgaric community, community of Armenians, the Jewish community etc.

The only ethnicity that has no agency is the Turks although they are approximately 150.000 Greek citizens. Apart from this the Greek identity has been rejected by the Greek State although the low to exterminate the Thracians has been abolished since 1998. But this law still exists for the Turks in Greece and so the international community is deceived.

Furthermore our extermination is still existing and our persecution which we could name as an invisible extinction of our race still is on. Because we use to live in dirty places, we have no Mosque and not even a cemetery because the Greek Orthodox Church and Greek State have agreed on this. Thus, our children will not know about their origin.

The Greek State in cooperation with the Greek Church recently begun to work together for our extermination through education. In Athens and Thessalonica under the mask of assistance they pass Christianity to our children. In the area where the Minority of Thrace exist they give to the young children CDs and DVDs, which is forbidden by our low, but no lows exist for us in this land and no human rights are recognized.

The Minority’s history is not taken for granted. They teach our children to be against us and against our grandfathers.
All those who refuse to function like traitors among us they close their enterprises and they send them away.

As Pan Hellenic Federation we invite you all from the position you have to convict this sovinistic, racistic and fascistic policy of our country against us. We call you to decide and to convict this policy loudly.

141 Dekeleias str.,Nea Filadelfia, Athens, Greece.2102526733, 6978934910

GREEK DEMOCRACY

PAN HELLENIC FEDERATION OF SUPPORTING THE MUSLIMS IN GREECE

“THE FILOTITA”