KOMOTINI (AA) - August 17, 2012 - Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag on Friday gathered with Turks living in Western Thrace as part his visit to the region.
Addressing the gathering at the disbanded Turk Youth Association, Bozdag stressed Turks of Western Thrace faced problems which he said were due to Greece's failure to abide by obligations under international law.
Bozdag said one such problem was the election of a mufti, which he said was guaranteed by international agreements.
"Muslim Turks living in Greece have rights guaranteed under international law and a series of agreements. We hope those rights protected by international law would also be upheld by Greece," Bozdag said.
Bozdag said Turkish-Greek relations had seen significant improvement lately, adding that progress in bilateral ties could make valuable contributions to the improvement of rights of Turks in Western Thrace.
