The General Assembly of the European Free Alliance (EFA) took place on 13 and 14 April 2018 in Germany. General Counsel Bahri Belço and Public Relations Unit Member Ali Huseyin accompanied President Mustafa Ali ÇAVUŞ in EFA General Assembly.

DEB Party Chairman Mustafa Ali Çavuş took the floor on the second day of the EFA General Assembly to present the declaration of the DEB Party on the Western Thrace Muslim Turkish Minority. Ali Çavuş saluted the EFA administration and delegates at the beginning of his words.
FEP Party President Mustafa Ali Çavuş took the floor on the second day of the EFA General Assembly to present the declaration of the FEP Party on the Western Thrace Muslim Turkish Minority. Ali Çavuş saluted the EFA administration and delegates at the beginning of his speech. Continuing he emphasized that they are giving struggle for their rights in our country Greece which is a 37 years old EU member, that we left in Greece as a minority with the Treaty of Lausanne about a century ago and that our rights have been established within the framework of the international Treaty of Lausanne but these rights are entrenched upon by our country, Greece. FEP Party President Mustafa Ali Çavuş during his speech mentioned about the freedom of identity and association in Western Thrace and talked about the legal struggle of Xanthi Turkish Union and that the decision of European Court of Human Rights which was given 10 years ago about the Union did not apply by Greece.

In the second part of his speech President Mustafa Ali Çavuş said that the presidents and the executives of minority institutions are tried to be silenced by various criminal announcements. Mustafa Ali Çavuş stated that the event named "Suggestions of National Minorities and International Organizations in Greece" organized by the FEP Party and the Helsinki Watch Committee in Athens was attacked by the Golden Dawn members and sympathizers in front of the eyes of the whole world, insulting himself and the party executives and making death threats, but despite all this remained unpunished. FEP Party President Mustafa Ali Çavuş said that this is why it is difficult to talk about the safety in our country Greece and he stated that the law of our country is not operating for Western Thrace Turks.
In the last part of his speech our Party Leader Mustafa Ali Çavuş, said that the rights of Western Thrace Turks arising from Lausanne are under occupation, that there is no freedom of association and that our country, Greece, does not recognize ECHR decisions. Our President noting that the justice did not work for them said: “We demand that the discrimination come to an end and to reinstatement of our minority rights" while ending his speech.

After the presentation of our President, EFA Chairman François Alfonsi took the floor and told the delegates the struggle of Western Thrace Muslim Turkish Minority for their rights and their struggle for existence in a remote corner of Greece. Alfonsi said that he personally visited the region a few years ago and found the opportunity of observing the problems of minority in site. EFA Chairman Alfonsi also addressed the Turkish name of Xanthi Turkish Union and said that imposing a restriction on the name of a association is highly contrary to European values and for the name of democracy. Alfonsi then used the following remarkable statements: "Greece cannot stand even if Turkish names are given to sports clubs in Western Thrace".

After ending his words Alfonsi, our President and EFA Chairman together unfurl a banner in the General Assembly Hall about the freedom of association. Our President also presented to François Alfonsi a book in which Western Thrace Turkish children wrote their thoughts in about mother tongue and the activity report of the Xanthi Turkish Union.

Finally, the declaration presented by our President was unanimously approved by the delegates.

FEP Party