Yannis Vasilis Parharidis, a Turkified Greek living in Thessaloniki, had his application to change his surname accepted by Bafra 3rd Civil Court of First Instance.
In 2013, Parharidis decided to apply to have his name changed from İbrahim to Yannis Vasilis and his surname from Yaylalı to Parharidis.
The man discovered his family connections to Greece while serving in the military in Şırnak in 1992, where he was detained by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) for two years.
After reclaiming his identity as a Greek, Parharidis became a peace activist. He was arrested in 2017 for commemorating the Greek and Armenian genocides and was imprisoned until 2018 after being found guilty for 'insulting the President', 'encouraging people to disobey the law' and 'making propaganda for a terrorist organisation'. Following his release, he decided to move to Greece in 2019.
The petition submitted by Parharidis's lawyer, stated:
"My client does not want to bear his surname because he does not feel a moral bond. My client learned years ago that he was actually Greek, not Turkish, and in this context, he changed his name from İbrahim to Yannis Vasilis. Accordingly, my client does not use the surname Yaylalı, but the surname Parharidis, which is mostly used by the Greeks. As it is known, the name and surname are one of the basic elements that are written in official records and are the proof of the identity of the individual."
Following the acceptance of the application by the court, the lawyer said:
"For the reasons we have explained above, first of all, due to the fact that the 3rd article of the 2525 Surname Law is contrary to the 10th and 17th articles of the Constitution, the file is sent to the Constitutional Court for concrete norm control, and the case is kept on hold until the decision is made, and as a result, with the acceptance of our case, my client's judgment I request by proxy that the surname, which is listed as 'Yaylalı' in the population registry, be changed to 'Parharidis'."
Speaking of the racist laws that encourage discrimination, Parharidis noted:
"This law is against the 10th article of the Constitution. But come and tell this to state and government officials. They take all kinds of taxes from us and send them to a part of the society. While offering all kinds of opportunities, they continue to treat us like stepchildren. I am Greek from Pontos. I am one of tens of thousands of children stolen during the Pontos genocide and given to Turkish families. This reality was hidden from us until my mid-twenties, when I was captured and shared with the public the dirty war waged against the Kurds."
[Based on reporting by: Greek City Times]
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