A few days after the visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Greece, the Minister of Education, Kostas Gavroglou was in favour the election of the Islamic Mufti in Komotini, under specific conditions. In an interview the TV channel of the Greek parliament, to be aired on Friday at 9pm, he stressed that “a serious discussion with the minority on the issue of a reasonable election of muftis must be had”.

In another point in the interview, Mr. Gavroglou said that it must include the exhaustion of all the possibilities to determine the electoral body of the procedure.
He went on to note that the community of Greeks (called Rum) in Turkey did not choose the Patriarch in the Constantinople, but the members of the Holy Synod, arguing that there was always an electoral process of religious leaders.
Mr. Gavroglou said that after the passing of legislation, which makes the implementation of Sharia law in the region optional, via a presidential decree, the mufti’s procedural powers will be laid down, followed by the establishment of a scientific committee, by legal experts on Islamic law.

Finally, assessing the visit by Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Greece, Mr Gavroglou commented that the Turkish President “missed the opportunity to speak to European partners.”