WTMUGA participated in the 1st OSCE Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting of 2025.The meeting was held in Vienna on March 17-18, hosted by OSCE Chairman
Finland and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). Human
Rights Expert Kerem Abdurrahimoglou attended the meeting on behalf of WTMUGA. The
meeting was held with the motto of “The role of the media in conflicts and humanitarian
crises, its reflection on International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights
Law”. Following the opening session, three working sessions were held, titled “Respect:
the role of the media in conflicts, including contributions to humanitarian crises, and
accountability”, “Response: addressing the challenges in the information environment
and media, including disinformation”, and “Preparation: building social resilience through
independent journalism and media literacy”. WTMUGA took the floor in the second
session of the meeting, titled “Response: addressing the challenges in the information
environment and media, including disinformation”, where disinformation-based
propaganda and the resulting misperceptions created in the public opinion were
discussed. The speech emphasized the denial of the identity of the Western Thrace
Turkish minority, and the problems it experiences in the fields of education and
association. It was stated that minority representatives who voiced human and minority
rights violations and the problems that Turks face in their daily lives in Western Thrace
were demonized and targeted by the local and mainstream Greek media. It was reported
that no cultural, social or humanitarian activities of the minority were covered in the local
Greek media.
The Greek Delegation, which used its right to reply at the end of the session, reiterated
the official Greek position on the subject, claiming that the Treaty of Lausanne regulates
the rights of the Muslim minority in Western Thrace and that the minority living in this
region benefits from this agreement and all the rights arising from being Greek citizens.
The meeting ended with the reading of the working reports and the closing speeches of
the participating countries.
