Ολόκληρο το ψήφισμα του Συμβουλίου της Ευρώπης για τα νησιά της Ίμβρου&Τενέδου και της ανάγκης προστασίας της Ελληνικής μειιονότητας

Summary

The two Turkish islands of Gökçeada (Imbros) and Bozcaada (Tenedos), situated at the entrance of the Dardanelles, have been inhabited mostly by ethnic Greeks since antiquity, whilst they were governed over the centuries essentially by Venitian and Ottoman rulers, and, since 1922, by the Turkish Republic.

Desacreted church : Imvros Island

The Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights regrets that as a consequence of various measures taken by the authorities in the second half of the 20^th century (closure of all Greek community schools on the islands, large-scale expropriations, various forms of harassment), but also for economic reasons, the vast majority of the original inhabitants of the islands have emigrated, leaving only about 250 mostly elderly members of the ethnic Greek community on Gökçeada (Imbros) and 25 on Bozcaada (Tenedos). At the same time, many thousands of exiled islanders and their offspring have demonstrated their desire to maintain close links with their homeland.

The committee makes a number of specific proposals for urgent positive measures needed in order to stem or at least partly reverse the departure of the ethnic Greek population from the islands so that their bicultural character can be preserved.

It finds that such positive action by the Turkish authorities will not only be a tangible sign of Turkey’s respect for the rights of her own citizens, but could also serve as a model for cooperation between Turkey and Greece.

A positive attitude towards the ethnic Greek islanders and their descendants would also be an excellent example of Turkey’s willingness to overcome outdated nationalist attitudes and to embrace European values of good neighbourliness.

Ολόκληρο το κείμενο

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Council of Europe calls for protection for Greeks on Imbros, Tenedos

The Council of Europe is calling on Turkey, according to an announcement issued on Tuesday, to take measures to protect the Greek minority on the islands of Imbros and Tenedos.

The Council of Europe's Justice and Human Rights Committee issued a resolution on Tuesday which calls on Turkey to adopt a "positive stance" towards the Greeks of Imbros and Tenedos.

The committee hails certain "positive gestures" that have taken place, but appeals for "a fairer settlement of educational and ownership issues for the two islands' inhabitants of Greek origin." It also calls for the remedying of damage caused to the natural and cultural heritage of Imbros and Tenedos.

The Council of Europe's resolution will be brought before the Plenum for a vote on June 27.

Source

Περισσότερα για την επίσκεψη του PACE στα νησιά της Ιμβρου και της Τενέδου

Fact-finding visit by a PACE rapporteur to the Gökçeada/Imbros and Bozcaada/Tenedos islands

Strasbourg, 25.04.2008 - For the purposes of preparing his report on the Gökçeada/Imbros and Bozcaada/Tenedos islands, Andreas Gross (Switzerland, SOC), Rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), will make a fact-finding visit from 27 April to 2 May to the two Turkish islands, where he will meet inhabitants and local authorities. He will then stop over in Ankara for talks with representatives of the Ministries of the Interior, Education, Justice and Foreign Affairs. Mr Gross considers that, since the 1960s, many islanders of Greek origin – as a result of policies carried out at the time – have left the islands, whose population was exclusively (in the case of Gökçeada/Imbros) or mainly (in the case of Bozcaada/Tenedos) Greek under the Ottomans. A new policy dating from 1993 allows exiles to return to visit the island from which they come, but problems seem to persist. The objective of the Rapporteur, whose assignment is the result of a joint initiative on the part of the Turkish and Greek delegations to PACE, is to seek an equitable solution so that these two islands can provide a positive example of Greco-Turkish co-operation that will be mutually beneficial. Programme of the visit source

θα επανέλθουμε στο φλέγον αυτό εθνικό ζήτημα με περισσότερες πληροφορίες για το παρελθόν αλλά και το παρόν των Ελληνικών κοινοτήτων Ίμβρου&Τενέδου

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