Controversy in Greece over nomination of Pomak for Prefect

Florina - Lerin, Saturday, 13 May 2006

by Georgios N. Papadakis

Controversy erupted last week in Greece regarding the candidacy of a lawyer from the Pomak minority for the position of Prefect of Xanthi-Kavala-Drama. Miss Gjul Karahasan was officially nominated by the Socialist opposition party PASOK for the elections that will take place next October and is the first female candidate ever that originates from one of the three ethnic groups that comprise the so-called “muslim” minority in western Thrace. They are the only officially recognized national minority in the country.

Several politicians, known for their Greek nationalist views as well as leading figures of the Greek Orthodox Church, protested against the PASOK decision. The Minister of Macedonia and Thrace, Georgios Kalatzis, stated that he could not easily imagine Miss Karahasan standing next to him for the celebration of the beginning of the Greek Revolution against the Turkish rule (March 25th). Meanwhile MP Papathemelis and MEP Karatzaferis demanded that the 27-year old Pomak should publicly state that she is “Greek” and will stand against any attempt by Turkey to manipulate the “Muslim” minority.

Miss Karahasan has so far avoided any comment on these statements, she thanked PASOK’s president George Papandreou for his confidence in her and simply stressed the fact that she’s a Muslim Greek citizen who wants to be judged for her views on local and regional governance issues only. She stated that she felt certain that her gender, origin and religion will have no influence on the final decision of the voters of the region.

The controversy was further inflamed by reports in the mainstream Greek media on the visit of ruling New Democracy Party MP Ilhan Ahmet, the only muslim MP in the Greek Parliament, to Ankara. Along with the unrecognized Komotini / western Thrace “Mufti” Ibrahim Serif, Mr Ahmet criticized Greece’s attitude on religion and property issues in western Thrace.

The Turks, Pomaks and Roma that form the so-called “muslim” minority in Greece were always treated by the Greek state as a potential Turkish trojan horse against the stability and integrity of Greece. Although several Turks and Pomaks have been elected to New Democracy, PASOK and smaller parties, as members of the Parliament and local Councils over the past decades, they still cannot reach high-ranking positions within state institutions such as the army, judiciary, and police.

Additionally, in an attempt to block their independent entry to the Parliament, Greece placed a 3% hurdle to the electoral law so that only parties that exceed this percentage can be represented in the Greek Parliament. The state also joined five Prefectures in eastern Macedonia and Thrace into two so-called “super-Prefectures”- Xanthi-Kavala-Drama and Rodopi-Evros – in order to hinder the possible emergence of minority Prefects in Xanthi and Rodopi, where Turks, Pomaks and Roma in total slightly outnumber the Greek population.

The Pomak language belongs to the southern Slavic group and is close to Macedonian and Bulgarian.

According to political observers various state policies towards the Pomaks - until 1995 they needed a special permission to leave their villages and travel inside Greece - have made this Muslim Slav community an easy target for Turkish claims that all members of the “muslim” minority in Greece are Turks. (Eurolang 2006)

Related links:
www.pasok.gr
www.mathra.gr (Greek Ministry of Macedonia &Thrace)
www.trakyaninsesi.com (Minority Newspaper in W. Thrace)
www.ilhanahmet.com (New Democracy MP)
www.greekhelsinki.gr/english/reports/pomaks.html (Study of the Pomak language)