are ready to work and prosper as citizens of the Greek state, with the exception of a relatively small group of ethnocentric activists. In 1922, Turks owned 84% of the land in Western Thrace, but now the minority estimates this figure to be 20–40%. This stems from various practices of the Greek administration whereby ethnic Greeks are encouraged to purchase Turkish land with soft loans granted by the state. The Greek government refers to the Turkish community as Greek Muslims or Hellenic Muslims, and does not recognise a Turkish minority in Western Thrace. Greek courts have also outlawed the use of the word 'Turkish' to describe the Turkish community. In 1988, the Greek High Court affirmed a 1986 decision of the Court of Appeals of Thrace in which the Union of Turkish Associations of Western Thrace was ordered closed. The court held that the use of the word 'Turkish' referred to citizens of Turkey, and could not be used to describe citizens of Greece; the use of the word 'Turkish' to describe 'Greek Muslims' was held to endanger public order. Greece continued this stance in the beginning 21st century when Greek courts ruled to dissolve or prohibit formation of Turkish associations. Apart from Thrace, a small minority of Turks exists in the Dodecanese islands of Rhodes and Kos. They were not included in the 1923 population exchange as the Dodecanese were annexed from Italy in 1947 after World War II. After annexation of islands, their Muslim inhabitants, Greek and Turkish speakers, were granted Greek citizenship. Today, about 5,000 Turks live in the Dodecanese islands of Rhodes (numbering 3,000) and Kos (numbering 2,000) and use Turkish in everyday life. In Rhodes and Kos, the teaching of the Turkish language was de facto abolished in the early 1970s. Pomaks The Muslim Bulgarian-speaking minority are known as Pomaks (, Pomakoi, , Pomatsi). They reside mainly in villages in the Rhodope Mountains in Thrace, in Evros, Xanthi and Rhodope regional units of Greece. According to the 2001 Greek census it is estimated that in total there are 36,000 Pomaks, of whom 23,000 live in Xanthi regional unit, 11,000 live in Rhodope regional unit and 2,000 live in Evros regional unit. The language they speak is generally classified as a dialect of Bulgarian, and more specifically is the "Central Rhodope dialect" or Smolyan dialect. Despite their mother language, many Pomaks also self-identify as Turks This