A racist attack was carried out by a French citizen against the Mosque located in Kaplıcalar Neighborhood of Ilıca Village of Xanthi – Mustafçova Municipality. The fixtures of the mosque were destroyed and our holy book, the Quran, which was in the mosque, was torn to pieces and thrown to the ground, and our Holy Book was attacked.
In the recent past, attacks on mosques, which are considered as the temple of Muslims, and especially on the holy book of the Qur’an, were committed in the same way in some European countries, and ‘similar’ criminal acts were observed, and even in some northern states this was ‘with permission’ from the relevant state and completely respected. The whole world has witnessed that it is carried out against, with hatred, with discriminatory and targeting actions. Yes, it is a shame that trying to do what is against human rights and freedoms especially “within the scope of freedoms” and ironically being processed under the control of the state has started to be very thought-provoking in terms of human dignity and freedoms.
Especially in the last case:
To Islam and its Prophet Muhammad, to Muslims who have reached 2 Billion; this ugly attack against the Qur’an and Islamic places of worship, which was revealed to all humanity; Considering that it has already been committed by a citizen of a state with a bad record in these matters, and moreover, in a different country this time, and the weakness of Greece to these sensitivities since time immemorial;
It indicates that Islamophobic heresy in Europe is reaching more and more hate crime coefficients.
It severely condemns this ugly attack against the Holy Book, the Quran, which was sent to the Mosque of Xanthi in Xanthi, and as a guide to all humanity. We would like to remind you once again that freedom of worship and Islamic worship should be respected.
We will follow up until the final decision whether the perpetrator caught as a result of the complaint was punished with the heaviest penalty by the authorized Greek Court, exemplary.
In accordance with the agreements to which Turkey and Greece are parties, the Turkish population in Western Thrace and the Greek Orthodox populations in Istanbul, Gökçeada and Bozcaada were excluded from the forced exchange between the two countries. Within this framework, there are around 150,000 Muslim Turkish Minorities in Western Thrace. The 1923 Lausanne Peace Treaty granted the Western Thrace Turkish community the status of “minority”. Articles 37 to 44 of the Treaty of Lausanne contain regulations on the rights of non-Muslim minorities in Turkey; Article 45 states that “these rights granted by Turkey to non-Muslim Minorities are also recognized by Greece to the Muslim Minority in its territory”. Therefore, the guarantor country of the Western Thrace Muslim Turkish Minority is clearly the Republic of Turkey.
We share the legitimate concerns of the Muslims living in Western Thrace, and we never hesitate to shout boldly that we stand by anyone, whether Muslim or not, who is attacked against freedom of worship and belief within the scope of human rights and freedoms. We will always be on the side of the right, support the law and justice.
On behalf of the International Jurists Union, Atty. Necati CEYLAN
