Oh yeah, it's an April fools joke played on Greece by the ECHR who decided to publish it in a Turkish Newspaper written by one called DAMARIS KREMIDA.
Not realising this was just a joke the nationalism in the Greeks came out in force to slam the Greek member of the ECHR for allowing the game to be played on the Greeks/Greece.
:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lo:
European court's ruling stirs Greek nationalism
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Turkish associations fight in Greek courts for years to have the term 'Turkish' accepted. Although Greece's courts reject references to Turkishness in associations, a European Court of Human Rights verdict stokes nationalistic sentiment by disagreeing
DAMARIS KREMIDA
ISTANBUL – Turkish Daily News
A Greek member of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) was slammed in a Greek newspaper Sunday for voting in favor of the �Turkish Association of Xanthi,� and the �Union of Turkish Women of Rodopi� in Western Thrace using the term �Turkish� to identify themselves.
The Greek ECHR judge, Petros Pararas, was one of the Greek prime minister's �men� according to Greek daily To Proto Thema. With his ECHR vote Pararas �condemned� Greece, wrote the paper caustically, and gave cause for �Muslims of Western Thrace� to celebrate on the streets crying: �Turks by court decision.�
According to the ruling of the ECHR, passed last week, Greece is legally obligated to recognize all new associations that use references to their Turkish nationality. While at the turn of the century Muslims, most of whom are of Turkish origins, were referred to as Turks, after the Turkish intervention in northern Cyprus in 1974, the Greek government fearing that Turkey may claim part of Western Thrace, started calling them "Muslims of Western Thrace." In 1991 they gave the right to individuals to self-identify as Turks, but not to groups. As a result, the Greek courts have rejected all applications for �Turkish� associations.
�Even if I would have voted against, or asked for an exemption, nothing would have changed,� To Proto Thema quoted Pararas.
�The right to call themselves Turks is a human right and it's their right,� CHP Parliamentarian Onur Öymen told the Turkish Daily News yesterday. The community of Turkish origins Muslims has been calling itself Turk all along, �so now they can call themselves by their original name,� said Öymen. �We are not calling the Greeks of Istanbul �Orthodox Christians,� so why should the Turks of Western Thrace not be called Turks?� he asked. Öymen was skeptical as to whether Greece would honor the ECHR verdict, explaining that in other cases it had turned a blind eye. �It's a positive decision and I hope the Greeks will honor it,� he said.
Legally speaking, the Greek government has no choice said Costas Tsitselikis, an expert on the Turkish minority issue in Greece and professor at the University of Macedonia in Thessaloniki. �In both cases the ECHR is saying that the reference to �Turkey� does not give the right to a democratic society to refuse the establishment of an association,� he said. The professor said probably the Turkish minority would try to invest in the rulings saying they have the right to call the whole community Turkish. �There will be antagonism and confrontation,� said Tsitselikis and added that the issue with the associations was symbolic of deeper problems and neglect in the community. �After 25 years of court rulings, I think the verdict is in accordance with human rights and it's time for both sides to look into the real issues of the minority in Western Thrace.�
We'll just wait and see if Greece will abide by the courts ruling and what the Greeks will do when for the first time they see the word Turkish written above a shop door or on any association/s building/s.
