Citizenship in Cyprus

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De facto sovereignty in Cyprus. The green zones are the British military bases Akrotiri and Dekelia. The UN controlled demilitarized zone is light blue.

The conditions of citizenship in Cyprus, an island in the eastern Mediterranean, are complex because of the de facto tripartite sovereignty.

Wherever “Cypriot citizenship” is used in the following, that of the Republic of Cyprus is meant.

Historical

British passport from the reign of George VI.

Until the British took over the island in 1878, the inhabitants were Ottoman subjects for whom the Nationality Act of 1869 applied.

Anyone born in Cyprus during the Protectorate (1878–1914) received the status of a “British Protected Person”. During the colonial period, the British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act 1914 initially regulated nationality uniformly for “British Crown Dominions”.

Later the British Nationality Act 1948 was issued , which reorganized the status of colonial subjects ("British subjects"). The status of “Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies” (CUKC) was created, and for residents of newly independent areas that of “Commonwealth citizen” in addition to their respective citizenships.

Republic of Cyprus

British subjects of legal age, born between November 5, 1914 and August 16, 1960, had to register for Cypriot citizenship and submit a declaration of loyalty. More precise rules were found in the Citizenship of the Republic (Renunciation) Law of 1962, which was repealed in 1967.

Expatriate Cypriots who had not lived on the island for five years of their lives before independence did not qualify for the new citizenship after 1960, they remained CUKC and later, if they did not acquire another citizenship, became British Overseas Citizen - a status of Obtaining passports for them, but nowhere permanent residence, effectively making them stateless.

Nationality Act 1967

Basically, the Nationality Act 1967 was enacted together with the Citizenship Regulation of the Republic of Cyprus in 1969. Responsibility lies with the Ministry of the Interior. The Republic of Cyprus Citizenship (Amendment) Law of 1999 created equal rights in matters of citizenship. The age of majority was 21 and older. Later changes brought the age of majority down to 18 years. Naturalizations for underage children must be applied for separately.

Acquisition
  • until 1999: by birth, every legitimate child of a Cypriot father. Since then also illegitimate children of Cypriot mothers.
  • Anyone born in Cyprus since August 16, 1961 with at least one Cypriot parent, provided that registration is made within two years.
  • upon request, subject to a declaration of loyalty, "of good character" and at least twelve months of legal residence on the island
    • People of Cypriot origin. This also applies to foreign spouses (and widows since 1998) if the marriage lasted at least two years. (Same-sex civil partnerships have been recognized since December 2015.)
    • Descendants of people who became British subjects through the Annexation of Cyprus Order in Council of 1914 .
  • Naturalizations (πολιτογράφηση) on application, subject to a declaration of loyalty, "of good character" and at least twelve months of legal residence on the island before application, and:
    • Has lived or served in the government in Cyprus at least four years in the past seven years. For athletes, domestic workers, caregivers and employees of offshore companies, this period is nine years within twelve.
    • have been married to Cypriots for three years (two until 2001) and have lived as a family in the country for two years.

Changes to citizenship will take effect on the day of registration or the date of issue of the Certificate of Citizenship . Multiple statehood is tolerated. However, the minister can make the abandonment of other nationalities a condition for naturalization.

Between 1985 and March 2009 there were 5,395 naturalizations, 12,824 people who became Cypriots due to marriage, and 5,106 minor children for both of them. Almost 24,000 "Cypriot descent" registered in the same period.

loss

Citizenship can be given up on application. Since 1972, the Ministry of the Interior has been able to refuse such registration in times of war or if there is suspicion of avoidance of military service .

Citizenship can be withdrawn from naturalized persons by the Council of Ministers if:

  • Wrong information was given when applying for naturalization.
  • the new citizen was sentenced to more than one year in prison within the first five years.
  • a naturalized person behaves disloyal to the republic or takes up arms against it.
  • has lived abroad for at least seven years, does not work there for the state or an international organization and does not comply with his annual reporting obligation to the responsible consular mission.

Those affected have a right to be heard.

purchase

Officially, the program of purchasing citizenship is called the “Scheme for Naturalization of Investors in Cyprus by Exception”. Applications can be made by innocent people who live in the country with a residence permit and have owner-occupied residential property with a minimum value of € 500,000, as well as:

  • Are managing directors or similar who have paid at least € 100,000 in taxes over three years, or
  • Investors with land ownership and The like valued at more than € 2 million may not be sold three years after naturalization.
  • Owners of companies in which more than € 2 million has been invested in the country and which have employed at least five Cypriots or EU citizens. Applications can be submitted five years after the start of business operations.
  • Owner of shares worth more than € 2 million in approved alternative investment funds, which are not deductible for three years.

A joint application can be submitted for spouses or partners. Minors can be registered after approval. Parents and children of legal age can also submit applications. Since a change in the law in 2019, from February 2020, the cabinet will no longer make decisions alone, but a parliamentary commission has a say. From the introduction in 2014 to February 2020, around 4,000 investors were naturalized, in a good 50 cases this was withdrawn.

Human rights issue

Although the Republic of Cyprus claims sole representation over the entire island, at the same time it considers all those coming from the north who have been denied civil rights to have entered the country illegally. It is estimated that 160–170,000 people of Turkish descent (half and quarter Turks) are excluded from acquiring citizenship by registering. The Committee on the Rights of the Child criticized Cyprus in 2009 and 2014 for its restrictive interpretation of nationality law with regard to "Cypriot children of Turkish descent" (estimated at around 17,000 half-Turks). Applications for registration for these groups of people are often simply "forgotten" during processing. In 2018, the UN Commissioner for Human Rights estimated 15,000-25,000 such cases. The longest known processing time was 14 years.

Since 2012, free access to the state health system has been restricted to people with residential addresses in the south. Cypriot citizens are also not allowed to exercise their right to vote if they live in the north.

In the naturalization process there is an institutional preference for applicants of Greek origin: Many of the 15,000–20,000 “ Pontic Greeks ” who came to the country after the collapse of the Soviet Union are naturalized without hesitation after seven years. In order to attract immigrants from Greece, there were tax incentives and “discounts” for military service (3 or 6 months instead of the usual 25, now shortened).

The Republic of Cyprus has not acceded to either the Convention on the Status of Stateless Persons or the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness . The European Convention on Nationality has not been signed either.

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

In July 1974 there was a coup by the Cypriot National Guard , whose junta sought to seize power and unite the island with Greece, which was also under military dictatorship . On July 20, justified by the London Guarantee Treaty in 1959 , Turkish troops landed and occupied the northern third of the island.

In a first constitution of the "Turkish Federal State of Cyprus" in 1975 only "Turks" were mentioned, there was no separation between these and "Cyprus Turks". Only Article 67 of the 1985 constitution brought this. From 1974 to 1979 it was no problem for settlers immigrating from the mainland to obtain “citizenship of North Cyprus”, after which it was comparatively difficult.

On November 15, 1983, the parliament of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) proclaimed independence, citing the peoples' right to self-determination. The government of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is only diplomatically recognized by Turkey. However, it meets the requirements of the definition of a state according to the Montevideo Convention. Naturalizations were possible after five years of residence. The actual award is made by a Council of Ministers decision. At a meeting in 2002, almost 1,600 naturalizations were carried out simultaneously.

Since 2016, the normal acquisition of TRNC citizenship has only been possible through descent, for fighters of the Turkish resistance organization (1958–1974) or by marriage. However, according to Section 9 (b) also includes an investor program. Permanent residence is not required.

In the run-up to EU accession and the referendum on the Annan Plan , it was estimated that around 45,000 settlers from the Turkish mainland had received TRNC citizenship since 1975, 22,000 of them before 1981, but also often through marriage. By joining in 2004, all Cypriots entitled to Cypriot citizenship under the 1967 Law also became citizens of the Union. The EU regards Northern Cyprus as a "special area".

Despite the difficulties involved, between 1999 and 2009, almost 102,000 Cypriot Turks applied for and received birth certificates from the republic. Around 55,000 received a Cypriot passport in the same period.

Members of the TRNC enjoy all civil rights when they live in Turkey, apart from the right to vote. They will also be issued with Turkish passports. All you have to do is submit a written application for full Turkish citizenship.

Sovereign Base Areas

At the time of independence, Britain permanently retained the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia , which were estimated to be home to 15,700 civilians in 2011. In terms of nationality, they were CUCKs, unless they automatically became citizens of Cyprus in 1960 for certain reasons. Since July 1, 1962, the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 made it very difficult for them to settle in Great Britain.

Since the change in law on Jan. 1, 1983, the areas have been considered British Overseas Dependent Territory , and their residents are British Overseas Territories citizen. They were expressly excluded from the automatic granting of full British citizenship to all previous British Dependent Territories citizens when the law was reformed on May 22, 2002. However, many are entitled to full British citizenship if they had at least one British grandparent or worked for the military on the bases.

The uncompromising attitude of the home office in London made the situation tricky for the few refugees who landed before 2003, when the Republic of Cyprus agreed to be responsible for asylum issues across the island. In strict legal terms, they are only tolerated, so they do not live legally in the country on a permanent basis, cannot apply for naturalization, are only allowed to work to a limited extent and have not been able to leave the small areas for a long time.

UN buffer zone

The UN buffer zone, which takes up almost three percent of the land area, is inhabited by almost ten thousand people, mainly in the villages of Deneia, Athienou , Troulli and Pyla . Most are likely to be citizens under the 1967 Act.

See also

literature

  • Aimilianidēs, Achilleus K .; Constitutional Law in Cyprus; Alphen aan den Rijn ²2019 (Kluver); ISBN 978-94-035-0725-5
  • Bauböck, Rainer; Citizenship Policies in the New Europe; Amsterdam 2009 (Amsterdam University Press); ch. 13: Nationality and citizenship in Cyprus since 1945: Communal citizenship, gendered nationality and the adventures of a post-colonial subject in a divided country.
  • Çıraklı, Mustafa; Identity, immigration and citizenship in Northern Cyprus; Lancaster 2016 ( Diss .: Lancaster University )
  • Cookingov, Dimitry [ed.]; EU law of the overseas: outermost regions, associated overseas countries and territories, territories sui generis; Alphen aan den Rijn 2011 (Kluver); ISBN 978-90-411-3445-5 ; ch 6: SBA and ch. 18: Northern Cyprus
  • Krasniqi, Gëzim; Contested States as Liminal Spaces of Citizenship: Comparing Kosovo and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus; Ethnopolitics, Vol. 18 (2019), No. 3, pp. 298-314; DOI
  • Kyritsi, Thekla; Christophēs, Nikos [ed.]; Cypriot nationalisms in context: history, identity and politics; Cham CH 2018 (Palgrave Macmillan); ISBN 978-3-319-97804-8
  • Přívara, A .; Citizenship-for-sale schemes in Bulgaria, Cyprus, and Malta; Migration Letters, Vol. 16 (2019), No. 2, pp. 245-254
  • Yildrimtürk, F .; Status of Turkish Cypriots Under European Law; MA Univ. Twente

Individual evidence

  1. ^ “Convention of Defensive Alliance Between Great Britain and Turkey with Respect of the Asiatic Provinces of Turkey. Signed at Constantinople, 4th June 1878. " The annex of July 1st
  2. ↑ 4 & 5 Geo. c.17, in force Jan. 1, 1915.
  3. ↑ 11 & 12 Geo. 6 c. 56, in force Jan. 1, 1949.
  4. ^ Treaty of Concerning the Establishment of Republic of Cyprus Annex D
  5. ^ British Nationality (Cyprus) Order, 1960. SI 1960/2215
  6. ↑ This status was also retained (and inherited) when the new citizenship allowed dual statehood. See High Court of Australia: Re Canavan; Re Ludlam; Re Waters; Re Roberts [No 2]; Re Joyce; Re Nash; Re Xenophon [2017] 45 (27 October 2017) .
  7. ^ "Citizenship law of the Republic of Cyprus: A law to make provision for the citizenship of the Republic and for matters connected therewith;" Law No. 43/1967 of July 28, 1967, amended in 1972, 1983, several times in 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002.
  8. ↑ Cyprus Annexation Order of 1914 , plus Proclamation as to Citizenship, & c., November 5, 1914 (the British declaration of war on Turkey was made on the same day) and Proclamation as to citizenship, 1915 March 3, 1915, the Ottoman subjects, the such wanted to stay a one-month option to declare and two months until the then mandatory permanent departure.
  9. ↑ The practice of extending work permits beyond 4 years only in exceptional cases has kept the group of people entitled to claim small. Only the delayed implementation of EU Directive 203/109 / EC brought improvement in 2007. Bauböck (2009), p. 402.
  10. ↑ Their formalities follow the provisions of the Civil Registry Law and the Law on the Population Data Archives No. 141 (I) / 2002.
  11. ↑ The conditions for this were changed by a resolution of the Council of Ministers of September 13, 2016 [1]
  12. ↑ According to the revised Alternative Investment Funds Law 124 (I) / 2018, which replaced the provisions of 2014. An International Collective Investment Schemes Law, No. 47 (I) / 1999 had already existed before.
  13. ^ Entry regulations for Cyprus. (PDF) Accessed February 13, 2020 . : “ […] 2. Holders of 'passports' issued illegally by the secessionist entity, the so-called 'Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus'. Other nationalities having stamps or visas of the so-called 'Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus' in their passports are only allowed to enter Cyprus after the above-mentioned visas / stamps are canceled by the Immigration Authorities of the Republic of Cyprus. ”. Apart from residents and EU / EFTA citizens (according to Regulation (EC) No. 866/2004 ), only nationals of the USA, Canada, Australia, Israel, Moldova and Serbia are allowed to cross the border posts of the inner-Cypriot border.
  14. ↑ See Cyprus OHCHR common core documents forming part of the reports of States Parties ( HRI / CORE / CYP )
  15. ↑ But that only affects around 100 people. Bauböck (2009), p. 392.
  16. ^ Hatay, Mete; Population and Politics in north Cyprus: An overview of the ethno-demography of north Cyprus in the light of the 2011 census; Oslo 2017 (Peace Research Institute Oslo) full text
  17. ↑ “The state as the subject of international law should have the following properties: (a) a permanent population; (b) a defined national territory; (c) a government; and (d) the ability to enter into relationships with other states. ”If the definition of the state is dependent on international recognition, there is a risk that children born in the TRNC of stateless persons of Turkish origin acc. of the 1954 Convention.
  18. ^ Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus: Citizenship Law (No. 25/1993) of May 21.
  19. ^ Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Assembly; Daimi Ikamet Izni Yasası [“Permanent Residence Permit Act”]; from Nov. 5, 2015.
  20. ↑ 'Exceptional citizenships' being granted in the north (2017-01-26)
  21. ↑ On this: Skoutaris, N. Differentiation in European Union citizenship law - the Cyprus problem; in: Ott, A .; Inglis K .; Constitution for Europe and an Enlarging Union: Unity in Diversity ?; P. 160 ff.
  22. ↑ The 2006 census in Northern Cyprus found 265,000 residents, but only 178,000 of them were permanent residents. Only 120,000 met the requirement that both parents had to be born in Cyprus.
  23. ↑ 10 & 11 Eliz. 2 c. 21st
  24. ^ British Nationality Act 1981 (c. 61).
  25. ↑ British overseas territories citizen - as such never a citizen of the Union.
  26. ^ British Overseas Territories Act 2002 (Commencement) Order 2002
  27. ↑ 'We're in limbo': the families marooned at a British military base for 16 years 2014-10-21.
  28. ↑ UNHCR

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