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Huseyin Zeybek, a Member of Parliament from Greece’s New Left Party, has brought to parliament the issue of restrictions and bans imposed on minority school committees in Western Thrace.
Zeybek submitted a parliamentary question to the Greek Ministry of Education, seeking clarification on what he described as “prohibitions and limitations” targeting the administrative powers of the committees.
In his motion, Zeybek argued that questioning the authority of the Minority School Committees violates both the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne and Greece’s international commitments.
He criticized remarks made on Oct. 6, 2025, by Marigoula Kosmidou, Deputy Regional Director of Education for Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, who had said that the committees’ responsibilities were limited to financial matters.
“This approach is in clear contradiction with Greek law and the education protocols in force,” Zeybek said.
Zeybek recalled that minority education rights are guaranteed under the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne as well as the 1951 and 1968 Education Protocols, which safeguard the administrative structure of minority schools and the internationally recognized powers of the elected Minority School Committees.
He noted that Article 17 of Law No. 4563/2018 stipulates that minority schools are administered by three-member committees vested with both financial and administrative authority.
The restrictions, which reportedly include a ban on Minority School Committee members entering school buildings, have sparked widespread local criticism in Western Thrace.
In her Oct. 6 statement, Kosmidou reiterated that the committees’ roles were limited solely to financial management, a stance that has drawn objections from minority representatives who see it as an erosion of their educational autonomy.
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