Way eased for Turkish Cypriots to vote in EP elections

By Sinead Kelly

Parliament on Thursday gave the nod to a law easing the path for Turkish Cypriots residing in the occupied areas to vote in European Parliament elections.

The government bill passed with a plurality, with just 18 votes for, 1 against and 26 abstentions.

As a result Turkish Cypriots will for the first time be able to participate in the European Parliament elections, held in the south. Some 95,000 Turkish Cypriots with a Cyprus Republic ID card would be eligible to cast a ballot as well as stand for election as MEP.

Previously, all Republic citizens eligible to vote had to register with the interior ministry on the electoral roll before being allowed to participate in elections.

Now, Turkish Cypriots will be able to vote for an MEP by crossing the buffer zone and showing their ID cards at a polling station.

The bill had been put to the plenum three times before but voting on it was postponed.

 

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.