CERTAIN deputies took great exception to a bill approved by the Council of Ministers which would enable a foreigner who married a Cypriot to apply for citizenship. During the discussion of the bill at a House committee meeting, deputies were horrified at the prospect of Turkish settlers being given citizenship, because they had married a Turkish Cypriot.
A DISY deputy took the line that occupation and settlement were war crimes and wondered whether we would “be committing a crime ourselves if we started giving Cypriot citizenship to settlers”. He even saw the possibility of Greek Cypriots becoming a minority on the island. Another was concerned that the law would pave the way for marriages of convenience between Turkish Cypriots and settlers as well as between Greek Cypriots and illegal immigrants.
These reservations about the bill are, to say the least, absurd. Are they suggesting that Turkish settlers married to Turkish Cypriots, many of whom also have families here, should be kicked out of the country on the grounds that they had entered illegally? It is the sort of thinking that is based on the emotional rhetoric of the past rather than political rationality. That there are still politicians thinking that, under a settlement, all Turkish settlers would leave Cyprus, shows a complete lack of touch with reality.
What’s worse was that one deputy – admittedly, not many of his colleagues agreed with him – suggested in all seriousness that settlers married to Turkish Cypriots should not be entitled to citizenship! It did not cross his mind that this would be blatant discrimination against Turkish Cypriot citizens of the Republic. At least there was a degree of consistency, because objections were expressed to the possibility of granting citizenship to illegal immigrants married to Greek Cypriots.
The new law may give rise to some marriages of convenience, as deputies fear, but are we going to bar marriages between Cypriot citizens and foreigners to prevent this from happening? Once a citizen of the Republic decides to marry a settler or an illegal immigrant the state has an obligation to grant citizenship. Perhaps it should impose a waiting period of a couple of years before citizenship is granted, but other than that it cannot prevent such marriages from taking place. As for Turkish settlers who have married Cypriot citizens and have families here, there is no way they can asked to leave the country.
The government’s bill is perfectly in line with EU thinking. Its only weakness would seem to be the need for the Council of Ministers to approve citizenship, but this may be a constitutional provision that cannot be avoided. It would have made more sense for state services to grant citizenship, assuming that all necessary documentation was provided, than to expect the Council of Ministers to have direct responsibility for it.
