Action urged on Turkish Cypriots rejected for citizenship

Four hundred and twenty files out of the more than 5,000 applications from Turkish Cypriots with one Turkish parent who want a Republic of Cyprus passport have been submitted to the interior minister it was announced on Friday.

According to Sener Elcil, the head of Turkish Cypriot teachers’ union KTOS, whose union along with secondary teachers’ KTOEOS have launched an initiative to help people who have not been granted Republic of Cyprus’ citizenship, they have received 5,700 applications so far.

Elcil told the Cyprus Mail that following their meeting last August with Interior Minister Constantinos Petrides, it was decided that a team would be appointed at the ministry to deal with this issue.

So far, he said, they have submitted to the interior ministry team 420 files that mainly concern people with one Turkish Cypriot parent who were born abroad.  A small number also concern people who, despite both their parents being Turkish Cypriots, have had their application for citizenship rejected.

In both cases, Elcil said, these individuals are entitled to the citizenship of the Republic of Cyprus according to the law.

“It is not fair to them to be denied the citizenship,” Elcil said.

He said that these files were given to the interior ministry around a month and half ago.

The unions had said that they would sort the applications into those compatible with existing legislation and those that are not.

Elicl had said last August that they would focus on cooperating with the ministry on the legally compatible applications. As for those cases not compatible with existing provisions, the unions would look into whether the provisions are consistent with international law.

Those deemed non-compatible concern individuals with one parent from Turkey who arrived in the north as a settler.

The unions had said earlier in the year that they would also discuss the issue with the Turkish Cypriot leader, arguing that it is important to bring up the matter at the negotiation table.

 

 

 

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.