Turkish president raises concern about treatment of Muslims who make up 1/3 of Thrace region’s population; Ankara says Athens militarized islands in violation of Lausanne Treaty

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday criticized Greece for allegedly violating a settlement that has governed relations between the rivals for nearly a century.

In a statement released on the 99th anniversary of the Lausanne Treaty, Erdogan accused Athens of undermining the rights of the Muslim in Greece’s Thrace region. Muslims in Thrace make up about 32 percent of the province’s population and include ethnic Turks, Roma, and Bulgarian-speaking Pomaks.

“The conditions registered in the treaty, especially the rights of the Turkish minority, have been ignored or deliberately eroded,” the leader said. “It is not possible for our country to accept this situation, which is incompatible with good neighborly relations and loyalty to the treaty.”

The 1923 treaty was signed by the new Republic of Turkey to settle disputes with the Allies, including Greece, following World War I and the Turkish War of Independence.

It outlined the rights of the remaining Muslim in Greece and Christians in Turkey, after a bitter conflict between the countries, which was followed by a population exchange. It also set out conditions for Greek rule of the Aegean islands that lie off Turkey’s coast.

Ankara recently complained that Greece violated the treaty by militarizing the islands. Athens said it was acting according to international law and was defending its territory in the face of constant Turkish hostility.

On Friday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned the closure of four Muslim minority schools in Thrace, saying it demonstrated “discriminatory and oppressive policies” by the Greek government.

NATO members Greece and Turkey have been at loggerheads for decades over a series of issues, including disputes over undersea exploration rights in the eastern Mediterranean and the sovereignty of uninhabited Aegean islets. The two neighbors have come to the brink of war three times in the past half century.

Erdogan last month broke off high-level talks with Athens.

The Ministry of Education is ready to turn the page of the scholastic year 2021-2022, with the end of the second round exams and the announcement of the results late this week, terminating all measures that were taken as a result of the new corona pandemic, said the next school year, will be a real challenge for it, in light of the comprehensive program for students after three years of different systems adopted by the ministry in light of the state’s measures to combat and confront the virus, reports Al-Rai daily.

With the decision of the comprehensive return to school decided, and the desire of the Ministry of Education to intensify its efforts to prepare early for the summer vacation, in order to avoid all the problems that prompted it to postpone the return, the educational facilities sector has begun all preparations by organizing work and air conditioning units in all schools for four months of maintenance. An engineering source told the daily maintenance work began last November, stressing that “the air-conditioning system needs a complete replacement in old schools whose age has exceeded 15 years, and it amounts to about 60 percent of schools, especially in Al- Firdous areas, old Farwaniya, Andalusia, Sulaibikhat, Doha and most of the old areas in Kuwait.

The source stressed that carrying out maintenance of these units is useless and said replacing these machines is much better and more economical than maintaining them, because all maintenance work for them is considered temporary patchwork solutions to no avail. He said that “during the past two months, the finishing work was carried out in most of the air-conditioning units, and what is necessary was done in terms of maintenance making sure that the units are clean and how much they need gas and whether they work well or not.” He stressed that “thousands of units have been filled with gas, and the presence of leakage in many of them is normal.” He stated that the air-conditioning contract is in effect in all educational areas, but here comes the role of the engineer supervising the company’s work. We go around the schools one after the other, to make sure that the necessary action is taken then we write our reports to the facilities sector.

There are no problems in schools whose construction age ranges between 10 to 15 years, as the condition of the air conditioning is usually very good, and some of them may need to replace parts and others compressors and then we operate them to ensure according to a gradual plan.” Meanwhile, the air-conditioning maintenance contracts in all educational areas will expire by May 2023, while Assistant Undersecretary for Financial Affairs Youssef Al-Najjar told Al-Rai that there is a circular notifying the financial sector regarding any contract that will expire, in order to complete the extension procedures before the expiry date. In other news, the Ministry of Education confirmed about 1,200 job positions have been filled with non-Kuwaiti teachers in the required academic disciplines for the next academic year 2022-2023, as it opened the door for local contracting since last month, while the required numbers will be met through the external contracting committees which visited Jordan and Palestine.

An Amiri order was issued Sunday naming Sheikh Ahmad Al-Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah as Kuwait’s new prime minister. The order assigns Sheikh Ahmad Al-Nawaf to form Kuwait’s new Cabinet. Sheikh Ahmad most recently served as First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister in Kuwait’s most recent Cabinet.

“The Diwan of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah has stated that an Amiri ordered was issued Sunday naming the Retired General Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah a new Prime Minister for Kuwait,” reads a statement published by Kuwait News Agency (KUNA). “Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al-Ahmad was also asked to immediately implement the order and form the new Cabinet.”

The order to appoint Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al-Ahmad was issued by His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah based on the His Highness the Amir decree on November 25, 2021 mandating His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad to perform some of the Amir constitutional powers, according to the statement. “His Highness the Crown Prince asked the Prime Minister to inform the National Assembly about the order and issuing it in the official Gazette,” the statement adds.

The General Secretariat of the Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum International #Photography Award announced the winners of the special prizes for the 11th session of the award, titled “Nature”.

The “Photography Content Creator” award was won by the Kuwaiti photographer and influencer Majed Sultan Al-Zaabi.

Al-Zaabi expressed his thanks and pride in the award and the extent of its impact and support for the photographers’ communities and its very special position, pointing out that it is much more than a traditional competition, considering that it is an institution full of activity and life throughout the year./KT

Consul General Mishal Al-Shamali recently opened the new premises of the Consulate General of the State of Kuwait in Shanghai city, east China. Speaking to the press on the sidelines of the ceremony, he expressed gratitude to the Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry, the Foreign Affair Office of Shanghai People’s Government and the Shanghai Municipality for the limitless support to the diplomatic mission.

“The restrictions related to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the Chinese city and elsewhere forced delaying the inauguration of the new premises but, thanks to the efforts of the consulate staffers and the cooperation of Shanghai Municipality, we were able to overcome these conditions,” Shamali noted. On the diplomatic relations between Kuwait and China, the Kuwaiti diplomat said the two countries celebrated the 51st anniversary of establishing the relations on ambassadorial level on March 22, 2022.”

Early this year, Kuwaiti Foreign Minister and Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah paid a landmark visit to China and held fruitful talks with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. “The visit gave momentum to cooperation which grew steadily in all areas,” Shamali recalled. He affirmed that the Consulate General in Shanghai was ready to offer services to Kuwaiti citizens. The new premises is located at Unit 1601- 1604, 16th floor, No. 68 Middle Yincheng Road, in the financial district of Lujiazui, Pudong Area, Shanghai, he said, welcoming contacts via the phone No.+ 86021-58952151, Fax:+86021-58952153 , the emergency No.+ 8616621771561 and the Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. – KUNA