Press release regarding the recent decision of the Greek Cypriot side by TRNC Ministry of Foreing Affairs

Established upon the signing of international treaties, the 1960 Republic of Cyprus could only exist for 3 years due to the Greek Cypriot- Greek duo’s aspiration to annex the Island into Greece. Today there are two seperate States on the Island, namely the TRNC and the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus.

Since 1964, the Greek Cypriot Administration has been violating the fundamental human rights and freedoms of the Turkish Cypriot people in every field using the title of the now-defunct 1960 Partnership Republic. With the decision it has taken to revoke the passports of the Turkish Cypriots and to ban the applications for the issuance of passports, the Greek Cypriot Administration has dared to demonstrate once again that it uses this so-called title as an instrument of pressure against the Turkish Cypriot people. The said decision is of without legal merit.

The international community’s granting of the so-called “government” title to the Greek Cypriot Administration is the main source of its constant violation of the human rights of the Turkish Cypriot people. The isolation imposed on the Turkish Cypriot people by the Greek Cypriot Administration, with the support of the international community, negatively affects the life of all the Turkish Cypriots in all areas, including the freedom of movement.

The necessity brought about by the isolation inflicted pushes the Turkish Cypriot people to use the passports of the 1960 Republic of Cyprus, of which they were partners. The Greek Cypriot side is using this necessity as a threat. These actions of the Greek side prove that the 1960 Republic of Cyprus has turned into a Greek Cypriot State. These facts prove that only a cooperation model based on the sovereign equality of the two States is the only and best solution on the Island.

The new out of the box policies recently adopted by the Turkish Cypriot side regarding both the Cyprus issue and the fenced-off area of Maraş/Varosha are pushing the Greek side, which unilaterally benefits from the status quo, to desperation which pushes it to take illegal and irrational decisions and steps.

In this regard, the claim in the local press that our Minister is among the Turkish Cypriots whose passports have been revoked does not reflect the truth. Our Minister did not apply to and does not possess any identity card or passport obtained from the Greek Cypriot authorities after 1974. Therefore, we hope that this fact will be taken under consideration in the possible news items on the matter.