Interview with Abduhalim Dede, a Greek citizen and journalist from the Turkish minority in Greece

08.03.2009
In 1997, Abduhalim Dede, a Greek citizen and journalist from the Turkish minority was given a six-month suspended sentence for defamation of an ultra-nationalist activist from Thrace. He was charged in connection with an article published in Thraces Turkish minority newspaper
Trakianin Sesi which dealt with a so-called parallel state, a veiled reference to a Mafia or
police state in the sensitive zone of Komotini.

Another common issue, provoking harassment of the journalists who do not share the dominant views on national matters is the subject of minorities in Greece. The dominant view
in Greece supports the idea of an ethnically Greek State - homogenous in ethnicity and
religion. The journalists who dare refer to the existence of ethnic minorities in the Greek State are confronted with suspicion and defamation. On 22 December 1998, in Skopje during an official visit to the Republic of Macedonia, the then Foreign Minister of Greece said that people who claim there is a Macedonian minority in Greece are pervert intellectuals and
pervert journalists. On 11 January, on Antenna TV, he again denied the existence of a Macedonian minority adding that he forbids any discussion about it.

Journalists who are members of the Turkish minority, which is officially recognized only as a Muslim minority, are subjected to serious harassment. On 10 October 1998, Lutfu Karakas
of the Turkish Hurriyet Press Agency, a Turkish citizen, and Mucahit Dukkanci, a Greek citizen, journalist, and at the time, candidate for mayor in the Turkish minority community of Myki (Thrace), were taken into custody by the local police. They were told that the village was a restricted zone, where foreigners were not allowed without a special permit granted by the Greek Defense Ministry. In 1995, Greece had announced that it had abolished the 10 km-deep zone, located inside the Greek-Bulgarian border area but only in the region inhabited by the
Turkish minority. The Xanthi District Police Director informed the journalists that in fact, the abolition applied only to Greek citizens. He also asked the journalist to stay within the Xanthi town limits. The next day the journalist returned to Turkey. Throughout his stay, security
agents followed the Turkish journalist. This was meant to assure his protection, according to the agents


http://www.greekhelsinki.gr/pdf/Freedom-of-Expression-greece1999.PDF

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Ethnic
• Macedonian
• Orthodox
• Turkish
• Muslim
• Minority
• Human
• Rights
• Minorities
• Aegean
• Macedonia
• Thrace
• Makedonya
• Trakya