First of all, we would like to thank the unions, associations, legal and human rights organizations and political parties that supported our demonstration from the north and south of our homeland.
It is obvious that, there is a systematical racism and discrimination against a certain group of people in Cyprus, because of so-called mixed marriages. In these cases, one of the spouses is RoC citizen whilst the other spouse holds Turkish Republic citizenship or another country’s citizenship.
RoC citizenship is vitally important forTurkish Cypriots. It is obvious that, the opportunities it provides for travelling, education, health, and employment are not comperable to Turkish Cypriot’s when one considers the internationally valid identity provided by the RoC citizenship. Also, in terms of the family integrity, all family members including both parents and their children can obtain same opportunities that their citizenships maintained. i.e. they can travel from the same airport with same airlines!
The RoC government systematically inhibits our children’s rights to citizenship arbitrarily and illegaly regarding their parents’ citizenship status. On legal basis, it is clear that our children has every right to obtain the citizenship of RoC, when at least one parent holds the state’s citizenship status. As we all aware, a state must act according to the principles of rule of law and certainly, according to the principle of equality before the law. This systematical discrimination against our children is not made only against Turkish Cypriots but also to the children of Greek Cypriots who marries a foreigner i.e. Asian or African person. This racist approach of the RoC government is unacceptable. The state cannot impose a person who to fall in love with and whom to marry!
Whenever a person who has the right to obtain citizenship from the RoC and can not take the citizenship because of this unlawful, arbitrary practices of theirs, our family integrity, freedom to travel together with our children’s education, health or for another reason is severely violated. Moreover, young Cypriots whose right to citizenship is inhibited by the state are also deprived of their right to education. Most of the Turkish Cypriot youngsters cannot study in Europe although they have to put great efforts in order to gain right to registration, because of this illegal and discriminatory practice and unfortunately, some of those who could register to a university, had to leave their education unfinished and come back to the island due to the exorbitant prices applied to non-EU citizens.
The principle of “not being stateless”, which is a universal human right and is protected under the documents of United Nations. This right is also being violated by the Republic of Cyprus. Thousands of Turkish Cypriot children have only the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus citizenship and are stateless in legal basis internationally.
As a result of the RoC arbitrary, illegal and ununderstandable practice, citizenship is given to children who were not born in the northern part of the island especially. This forces Turkish Cypriot women who are citizens of the Republic of Cyprus go abroad during the most difficult period of their pregnancy and give birth in a foreign country, away from their loved ones in order to make sure that her child is ‘eligible’ for the citizenship of the RoC. This is a clear violation of women rights.
In contemporary world, where poverty and unemployment rates are dramatically increasing, many Turkish Cypriots, whose citizenship rights have been illegally inhibited, have to migrate from the island in the hope of finding a proper job in a foreign country. However, if these young people had the chance to look for a job all over the island and find one, they will not be forced to leave the country. The Republic of Cyprus also violates the right and freedom to work of Turkish Cypriots.
European Convention on Human Rights states that “The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Convention shall be secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status.” However, the Republic of Cyprus violates the most basic human rights of Turkish Cypriot citizens by violating this article that prohibits discrimination.
As we continue our fight through legal and judicial means through our lawyers, we emphasize that we will take the issue to media and everyday life, to international platforms and to the Court of Human Rights from now on. This is our last call to the RoC government to immediately stop this inhumane practice!
UNCREDENTIALEDS