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Article 12 of the Treaty of Athens has laid down the following provision :
Article XII. “The statute of the Mazbut, Mülhak and Müstesna Ottoman Wakfs with Idare-i Vahide, Icarateyn and Mukataa within the ceded territories will be respected considering their legal status in Ottoman Law at the time of military occupation. These Wakfs will be administered by the Moslem Community of the ceded territory and the rights of their trustees and beneficiaries will be recognized.”
The Law No: 2345 relating to the election of Muftis, also contained the provisions regarding how the Board of Administration of Wakfs should be elected.
In 1967, the military Junta of Greece abolished the wakfs' then existing administrations and replaced them with a new pro-Junta Board of Administrators composed of persons alien to the Turkish Minority.
Since the re-establishment of democracy in Greece, all remnants of the Junta regime have been cleansed. The only exception to this purification is the Junta regulations on the administration of the Wakfs of the Turkish Minority in Western Thrace.
As a consequence of the implemented policies, the Minority has not only lost control over its foundations, but has also been denied access to their administrative and financial accounts. This situation has led to mismanagement, gradual erosion, bankruptcy, confiscation and liquidation of numerous Waqf properties. Moreover, in 1979 a bill (Law No:1091 passed in 1980) on Western Thrace Turkish Waqfs was introduced, which further weakened them financially and diluted community’s right to control them. This operation of undermining the financial immunity of the Muslim charitable foundations has gained new dimensions through the imposition of excessive property taxes, other financial liabilities and penalties which resulted in mortgages and involuntary liquidation operations through the intervention of local finance authorities and municipalities.
On the other hand, the Law adopted by the Greek Parliament on 27 March 2007 stipulates that the mortgages on the Waqf properties be cancelled, Waqfs be relieved of their earlier tax debts and remain exempt from major property tax. However, the implementation is yet to be seen on all these issues.
Lastly, a new Law on the Muslim foundations in Western Thrace was adopted by the Greek parliament on 13 February 2008. The Law was neither prepared in consultation with the Minority, nor were the Minorities’ amendment requests taken into consideration. The Law provides the Minority with the opportunity to elect the board members of their foundations. However, the operations of the foundations are put under the control and approval of the Secretary General of the Thrace District and the “appointed Muftis” who are not recognized by the Minority. The Law divides the administration of the Waqfs properties and puts the school foundations under the control of school boards whose members are not directly elected by the Minority. Besides it should be noted that the school boards are entitled with the supervision of the schools’ activities and are not the owners of schools’ properties.
In other words, the Turkish Minority Foundations in Western Thrace are once again deprived of an autonomous status in EU standards. Indeed, on 19 February 2008, The Turkish Muslim Minority Advisory Council denounced the adoption of the said Law in the Greek Parliament and announced that the Turkish Minority will renounce the Law unless the amendments proposed by the Minority are inserted.
However, the Turkish Minority Advisory Council declared that it is against the implementation of the law as such since Minority’s views and reactions concerning the law have not been taken into account by the Greek administration.
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