Greece uncovers al-Jazeera’s lies about Muslim nationals

Muazz Mohamed

The Qatari channel al-Jazeera aired a report a few days ago about what it claimed as violations against the rights of the Muslim residents of the northeastern Greek region of Thrace.

It claimed a series of violations against the rights of these residents, including denying them the right to renovate Ottoman sites and preventing them from free speech.

Nevertheless, Greek media accuses the Qatari channel of overlooking all the facts about the Muslim residents of the region.

The Qatari channel, it says, depended on wrong and one-sided information it got from people known to be advocates of Turkish interference in Greek affairs.

Al-Jazeera claims in its report that the Muslim residents of Thrace are discriminated against by Athens.

It says there are 150,000 Turks in Thrace, who live near the border between Greece and Turkey.

The number has nothing to do with reality, Greek media said. It added that Turks are only one of the many ethnic groups that make up the Muslim population of the Greek region.

The Greek newspaper, Greek City Times, said Qatar is Turkey’s only ally in the Middle East region, especially with Doha and Ankara favoring the Muslim Brotherhood.

The newspaper added that al-Jazeera is stepping up its campaign against Greece now because of the failure of the Turkish channel, TRT, in tarnishing Athens’ reputation.

It said the Qatari channel is attacking Greece on behalf of the Turkish state and Turkish media.

Around 125,000 Muslim live in Thrace, according to a report by the Emirati newspaper, Etihad.

It said the Muslims of the region enjoy freedom of faith, especially in the presence of more than 15 mosques in the region.

There are Islamic societies in the region as well, the newspaper said.

It noted that the region boasts more than 200 schools where Muslim children learn all types of modern sciences.