Turkey's Foreign Ministry is accusing Greece of violating the Treaty of Lausanne after Greece suspended operations at 47...

Turkey's Foreign Ministry is accusing Greece of violating the Treaty of Lausanne after Greece suspended operations at 47 primary schools, kindergartens, and minority schools across Eastern Macedonia and Thrace for the 2026-2027 school year. The Greek Education Ministry's decision was based on enrollment numbers and the geographic distribution of students across each regional education directorate. Eight of the suspended schools were minority schools in Western Thrace, bringing the total number of active minority primary schools in the region down to 76. Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Oncü Keceli issued a written statement condemning the closures as, in his words, "new obstacles" designed to gradually weaken the educational rights of what Ankara calls the "Turkish Minority of Western Thrace." He also flagged what he described as barriers to first-grade enrollment at the 1st Turkish Minority Primary School in Xanthi as further proof of what Turkey calls a systematic pattern. Keceli called on Greece to comply with its international treaty obligations, referencing rulings from international courts and recommendations from European institutions that Ankara says Greece has ignored. Turkey announced it would continue to "decisively support" the minority's, as they frame it, struggle for rights and legal interests. Greece has long rejected the term "Turkish minority," recognizing instead a "Muslim minority" as defined under the 1923 Lausanne Treaty, which ended the Greco-Turkish War. The distinction is not semantic: Turkey's use of ethnic rather than religious terminology is a recurring flashpoint in bilateral relations, and Athens views it as an attempt to assert political influence over Greek citizens in Thrace. The school suspensions affect a broader region, with 47 institutions total across Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, not only minority schools. Greek officials have not yet publicly responded to Ankara's statement. #Greece #Turkey #Thrace