EU's Failure To Fulfill Its Human Rights Responsibilities: Statement By The EU Special Representative For Human Rights At The UN

The UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration in resolution 47/135 on 18 December 1992 without a vote. On the occasion of the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Declaration, the EU made a statement on 21 September 2022 in New York. It is astonishing, at the very least, that the EU Special Representative, while talking about significant human rights violations and offering examples that are of worldwide importance today, also brings up the claim in its statement that the "past discrimination against the Greek minority in Turkey" which has nothing to do with the significant human rights violations on an international scale. There is no doubt that this sentence was included in the statement of the EU Special Representative for Human Rights, Eamon Gilmore, upon the insistence of Greece, which has made a habit of using the EU as a tool in its smear campaign against Turkey. Among others, in his statement to the UN, it is regrettable that the EU Special Representative for Human Rights included the allegations regarding Greek Orthodox Turkish citizens with minority status in Turkey without adequately examining the issue imposed on him by the Greek authorities. The term of reference of the Special Representative indicates that he has no authority to deal with the human rights violation problems in the EU member countries. It is assumed that if he becomes knowledgeable about the human rights violations against certain minorities in member states, he can be more careful about bringing to the fore the problematic issues that may be imposed on him by some member states such as Greece.