Turkey's President Erdogan rails at Greece over Muslim minority rights

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 minority in Greece's Thrace region. Muslims in Thrace make up about 32% of the province's population and consist of 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 nationalist leader said. It is not possible for our country to accept this situation, which is incompatible with good neighbourly 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 ...