Greece
Greece appoints new muftis of Xanthi and Komotini under the new law, with five-year terms
The Government Gazette published the appointments of the new muftis of Xanthi and Komotini on the proposal of Education and Religious Affairs Minister Sofia Zacharaki. Terms last five years and can be renewed only once, completing the three muftiships of Thrace.
The appointments of the new muftis of the Xanthi and Komotini muftiships were published in the Greek Government Gazette, reports ERT. They were made on the proposal of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports Minister Sofia Zacharaki, after the procedure laid down by the new law was completed.
Shukri Sherif Damadoglou, son of Ahmet, was appointed Mufti of Xanthi, and Bilal Kara Halil, son of Behri, Mufti of Komotini. The appointment of Emin Sherif as Mufti of Didymoteicho came earlier. The term is five years and can be renewed only once. With the three appointments all three muftiships of Thrace, in Komotini, Xanthi and Didymoteicho, are now filled.
Who the new muftis are
Damadoglou was born on January 31, 1965, in the village of Sidero in the municipality of Soufli, Evros. He attended the Minority Gymnasium-Lyceum (Medrese-i Hayriye) of Komotini, studied in Damascus and from 1987 at the Da’wah faculty of the Islamic University of Medina, graduating in 1991. He speaks Greek, Arabic, Turkish and Ottoman Turkish, and has long experience in religious services and in the religious and social life of the Muslims of Thrace and Kos.
Kara Halil was born on October 12, 1980, in Pachni, Xanthi. He attended the Ehinos religious school and the Al-Azhar religious gymnasium in Cairo, and studied in the Department of Theology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, in the Muslim Studies track. He speaks Greek, Turkish and Arabic.
Muftis in Thrace are appointed by the Greek state and are the religious officials of the Muslim minority, with duties set by the law on the muftiships. The new law defined the selection procedure and the length of the term, with one renewal. Ankara persistently disputes the procedure and backs its so-called “elected” muftis, as shown by statements of the self-styled mufti of Komotini, who has no legal standing in Greece. Turkish media also regularly target Greek education policy in Thrace, as in a Daily Sabah report on minority schools.
