Ayhan Mehmet
13 September 2022•Update: 13 September 2022
ISKECE, Greece
The newly elected mufti (Muslim cleric) of the Turkish minority in a city in Greece’s Western Thrace region criticized the mindset behind inadequate education in Turkish in the region.
"Especially Turkish education was badly hit. Lesson hours for Turkish have gradually been shortened, we see the inadequate education given in this sense and the understanding that causes this inadequacy," Mustafa Trampa, who was elected the new mufti (Muslim cleric) for Iskece on Sept. 9, told Anadolu Agency.
Calling on authorities to act "sensitively" on education, Trampa said the children of the Muslim Turkish minority deserve quality education, just like every child worldwide.
On the social problems of the Turkish minority in Western Thrace – an area with a large ethnic Turkish population – Trampa said: "In the globalizing world, there are many factors that negatively affect people, youth, and children."
He added: "There are various cultures that mislead people and lead people to bad ways. You can easily reach them through social media. This culture contradicts your core values. To prevent this problem, we will work for families and young people."
Religious officials in the mosques affiliated to the institution of the mufti provide "very good services," he said, adding that they will continue to work to solve people’s problems in every area.
3rd elected mufti of Iskece
The election of the mufti, in which Trampa and Mustafa Kamo were candidates, was held on Sept. 9 with voting done by a show of hands in mosques in Iskece.
Trampa got 4,750 votes versus 2,570 for Kamo.
Trampa won the election after Ahmet Mete, the elected mufti of Iskece, passed away on July 14, making him Iskece’s third elected mufti.
Greece's Western Thrace region is home to some 150,000 Muslim Turks, whose rights to elect their own religious leaders, found Turkish associations, and have their own schools have been denied by Athens, in violation of European court orders.
