A Turkish woman has announced her mayoral candidacy for local Greek elections scheduled next month \u2013 the first time a member of the country\u2019s Turkish minority has sought such an office \u2013 in a bid to improve her community\u2019s status.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are citizens of this country. But we are not satisfied by the quality of the rights that we enjoy. My candidacy on behalf of \u2018First step for equality\u2019 [movement] will prove that we are unified to defend our rights,\u201d said Sibel Mustafao\u011f<\/span>lu, adding that the movement\u2019s doors were open to everyone, regardless of religious or ethnic background.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Already enjoying the backing of Turkish groups in Thrace, Mustafao\u011f<\/span>lu is seeking to become mayor in Thrace\u2019s Komotini province, where she is currently a member of the municipality council.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mustafao\u011f<\/span>lu is also a former member of the ruling Panhellenic Socialist Movement, or PASOK, and has run in the past for the party in the European Parliament.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201c\u0399<\/span> am very glad that I have the support of the Turkish minority in my endeavor,\u201d Mustafao\u011f<\/span>lu told the H\u00fc<\/span>rriyet Daily News & Economic Review last week.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Government Spokesperson Giorgos Petalotis, however, has accused the political group of \u201ctorpedoing the progress that has been made for the integration of the Turkish minority.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cIt is a right for every citizen to participate in the elections. This is obvious and without any objection,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHowever,\u201d he told local media last week, \u201cif groups start to divide the ballots according to religious or national origins, that would drag Greece society back, along with the integration process that we have attained.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The president of the Western Thrace Turks of Europe, or ABBTF, Halit Habipo\u011f<\/span>lu, rejected Petalotis\u2019 claims.<\/p>\n \u201cThe \u2018First step for equality\u2019 and similar groups are not a step back for Greece and the Turkish minority in Greece \u2013 actually, it\u2019s a step forward,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThe Turkish minority of Western Thrace has decided to proceed to the upcoming local elections with independent lists in Xanthi and Komotini to have a direct voice in local administration,\u201d Habipo\u011f<\/span>lu told the Daily News.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sibel Mustafao\u011flu…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tstyn_error":""},"categories":[10,5],"tags":[16591,16590,16592],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46705"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46705"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46705\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}