{"id":24236,"date":"2026-10-24T12:13:31","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T12:13:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/24\/turkey-calls-on-greece-to-recognise-elected-muftis-in-thrace\/"},"modified":"2026-10-24T12:13:31","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T12:13:31","slug":"turkey-calls-on-greece-to-recognise-elected-muftis-in-thrace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/24\/turkey-calls-on-greece-to-recognise-elected-muftis-in-thrace\/","title":{"rendered":"Turkey Calls on Greece to Recognise Elected Muftis in Thrace"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

Turkey has called on Greece to recognise muftis elected by the Muslim minority in Western Thrace, accusing Athens of violating religious freedoms and referring to the community as a \u201cTurkish minority\u201d.<\/h3>\n
\"\"
Education Minister Sofia Zacharaki and Didymoteicho Mufti Emin Serif (File photo)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a statement issued on October 24, 2026, Turkey\u2019s Foreign Ministry criticised Greece\u2019s appointment process for muftis in Komotini and Xanthi, arguing that it disregards fundamental rights protected by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne and other international agreements.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe institution of the mufti is an integral part of the religious, social and cultural identity of the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace,\u201d the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.<\/p>\n

The statement claimed that Greece ignores the community\u2019s will and religious freedom by refusing to recognise the muftis it elects, and accused Athens of violating rights protected by international agreements.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe call on the Greek authorities to recognise the legitimate muftis elected by the Minority and to abandon efforts to impose appointed muftis,\u201d the ministry concluded.<\/p>\n

Turkey\u2019s statement reiterates Ankara\u2019s position that the Muslim minority in Western Thrace constitutes a Turkish minority, a description that Greece does not officially recognise. The dispute centres on the appointment of religious leaders and the interpretation of minority rights under the Treaty of Lausanne.<\/p>\n

(Source: AMNA)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n


\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Turkey has called on Greece to recognise muftis elected by the Muslim minority in Western Thrace, accusing Athens of violating religious freedoms and referring to the community as a \u201cTurkish minority\u201d. Education Minister Sofia Zacharaki and Didymoteicho Mufti Emin Serif (File photo) In a statement issued on October 24, 2026, Turkey\u2019s Foreign Ministry criticised Greece\u2019s … <\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/greekcitytimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/mufti-x.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24236\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}