ECUMENICAL FEDERATION OF CONSTANTINOPOLITANS IMVRIAN ASSOCIATION (Athens) Athens, 5 December 2014 The delegations of Ecumenical Federation of Constantinopolitans (consisting of President Nikolaos Ouzounoglou and Secretary General Nicolaos Anagnostopoulos) and Imvrian Association, Athens, Greece (consisting of President Paris Asanakis and former President Konstantinos Christoforidis) met today at Athens Hilton Hotel with Prime Minister of Turkey Mr. Ahmet Davutoglu who was accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. M. Cavusoglu, the Minister of European Affairs and Chief Negotiator Mr. V. Bozkir, the Minister of Interior Mr. E. Ala, the Minister of Health Mr. Μ. Muezinoglu, the Minister of Transports Mr. L. Elvan, the Minister of Finance Mr. Μ. Simsek, the Minister of Customs and Commerce Mr. N. Canikli, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Mr. T. Yildiz and the Minister of Culture Mr. Ο. Celik, the Turkish Ambassador of Athens Mr. Kerim Uras, the Consul General Mr. Ismail Sefa Yuceer and other high-ranking officials. The meeting was conducted in a substantial dialogue atmosphere giving the opportunity to the two delegations to give an account of the problems encountered by the Greek-Orthodox minority of Constantinople (Istanbul), Imvros (Gokceada) and Tenedos (Bozcaada) with particular emphasis on: (a) the need for the State of Turkey to actively support the repatriation of the community of Greeks of Turkey to their ancestral homes and especially those of the younger generation by ensuring all necessary conditions required including the adoption of measures of positive discrimination; (b) the need of establishing a special agency for the provision of legal advice and support relating to the restitution of property, full recognition of the right to inherit, rehabilitation and employment and business opportunities; (c) the lifting of the prohibition of elections that has been imposed over the last two years in the non-Muslim communities’ pious foundations –a major issue of respect of the rule of law;(d) the return of the historic archives and library of the Greek Literacy Association of Constantinopole (1862-1923). The Greek-Orthodox delegation further stressed the importance of the re-opening of an intermediary school and a high school on the island of Imvros accompanied by the adoption of all special measures required for facilitating re-establishment of Greek- Orthodox Communities of Imvros and Tenedos in view of the particular prevailing circumstances. In the course of the presentation the Premier of Turkey was giving orders to the Ministers to address each of the issues falling within their jurisdiction. Mr. Davutoglu committed himself to lift the prohibition of elections in the non-Muslim pious foundations and reassured the delegation that full secondary school classes shall commence on Imvros in the forthcoming year. The delegates handed to the Premier and the Ministers two updated memorandums setting out the details of all issues concerning the Greek Orthodox Community of Istanbul, Gokceada (Imvros) and Bozcaada (Tenedos). Today’s meeting and the unprecedented commitment shown by the Government of Turkey can only be seen as the culmination of the long-lasting common efforts of all the Greek-Orthodox representative bodies and a further encouragement of escalating the struggle for the practical recognition of the injustices of the past through the adoption of measures ensuring safety, the rule of law and respect of fundamental human rights for the Greek-Othodox populations in Turkey. FOR AND ON BEHALF OF ECUMENICAL FEDERATION OF CONSTANTINOPOLITANS NIKOLAOS OUZOUNOGLOU President FOR AND ON BEHALF OF IMVRIAN ASSOCIATION PARIS ASANAKIS President
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 14:14:44 +0000