CORRECTS - Türkiye calls on Athens to investigate death threat against Turkish member of Greek parliament

CORRECTS POTENTIALLY MISLEADING HEADLINE, REVISES PARAGRAPHS 2 AND 5

By Handan Kazanci

ISTANBUL (AA) – Türkiye on Friday called on authorities in Greece to investigate a death threat against a Greek lawmaker who is also a member of the country’s Muslim Turkish minority.

“We expect the Greek authorities to investigate this serious incident and punish the perpetrators,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Twitter, sharing a statement from the Turkish Minority Advisory Board in Greece’s Western Thrace region, which explained that Huseyin Zeybek, an MP in the Greek parliament, was threatened on live TV.

The Western Thrace region – near Greece's northeastern border with Türkiye – is home to a substantial, long-established Muslim Turkish minority numbering around 150,000.

“We stand behind the Turkish Minority of Western Thrace, which will not give up its struggle for human rights and freedom despite all threats and pressure,” the ministry added.

According to a statement by the advisory board, Zeybek was threatened during a live broadcast on local Next TV by a person who called into the program.

The board said the threatening phone call intended to “turn the marginalizing and targeting rhetoric (by Greece) that has been going on for many years into action.”

The rights of the Turks of Western Thrace are guaranteed under the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, but over the decades the situation has seriously deteriorated, including Greece refusing to carry out rulings by the European Court of Human Rights.​​​​​​​