NICOSIA: Turkish Cypriots of mixed marriages protested on Saturday over what they say are inexplicable delays in gaining Cypriot citizenship, a contentious issue on the ethnically-split island.
Campaigners say thousands of people are rendered effectively stateless because they are unable to obtain Cypriot identity cards, falling foul of the politics and conflict which tore Cyprus apart.
“We don’t want any favors. We want our children’s rights,” said Can Azer, a lawyer and father of two children born in Cyprus.
The east Mediterranean island was split in a Turkish invasion in 1974 after a brief Greek inspired coup. A Greek Cypriot government represents Cyprus internationally.
Its membership of the European Union allows Cypriots visa-free travel throughout the bloc, while in contrast, a breakaway Turkish Cypriot administration in northern Cyprus is recognized only by Ankara.
Families of part-Cypriot heritage living in the north say an inability to get an internationally-recognized ID card issued by Cyprus impacts their children’s prospects if they want to pursue higher education, or employment in the more prosperous south.
About 100 Turkish Cypriots, some holding placards reading “Love Knows No Identity,” marched peacefully through the divided capital Nicosia on the Greek Cypriot side.
In Cyprus, it is highly unusual for members of one community to protest in areas populated by the other community.
By law, a child born on the island with at least one Cypriot parent should be conferred citizenship. But activists say a modification subsequently gave extensive powers to the interior ministry on who among those of mixed descent could get citizenship, with thousands left in limbo.
“From a legal point of view it is a clear violation ... you cannot punish children for political reasons and deprive them of their rights,” said Doros Polycarpou of the Kisa advocacy group.
Cyprus’s interior ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
“They want to belong to Cyprus,” Azer said of his children. “But right now they are made to feel they don’t belong anywhere.”
‘Stateless’ Turkish Cypriots protest over lack of formal IDs
https://arab.news/8vt5e
‘Stateless’ Turkish Cypriots protest over lack of formal IDs
- Campaigners say thousands of people are rendered effectively stateless because they are unable to obtain Cypriot identity cards
- A breakaway Turkish Cypriot administration in northern Cyprus is recognised only by Ankara
Helicopter crashes in Libya during medical evacuation, killing 3
- The Matan Al-Sarra air base lies in an area under the control of Libya’s Benghazi-based eastern administration led by military strongman Khalifa Haftar, but authorities in the east did not comment on the crash
TRIPOLI: A helicopter has crashed in southeastern Libya, killing a medic and two crew members carrying out a medical evacuation, state media said Tuesday.
Libyan news agency LANA said the chopper went down overnight near an air base in the Kufra region about 60 kilometers north of the border between Libya and Chad.
The aircraft was attempting to evacuate a soldier who had been involved in a road accident in the desert, LANA said.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known and it was unclear what happened to the injured soldier.
Libyan media reports said two foreign nationals were among those on board who were killed, but this was not confirmed by authorities.
The Matan Al-Sarra air base lies in an area under the control of Libya’s Benghazi-based eastern administration led by military strongman Khalifa Haftar, but authorities in the east did not comment on the crash.
Libya remains split between the eastern administration and a UN-backed government in the west led by Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeibah. The LANA news agency is under the control of western authorities.
Libya has struggled to recover from chaos that erupted following a 2011 Arab Spring uprising that toppled and killed longtime ruler Muammar Qaddafi.
