The Supreme Court upheld a decision to deny citizenship to children born from mixed marriages between Turkish Cypriots and Turkish nationals, ruling the government’s criteria do not discriminate against Turkish Cypriots.
According to an announcement by the Law Office on Thursday, the landmark ruling marks the first decision on applications for Cypriot citizenship from individuals born to mixed Turkish Cypriot and Turkish national parents.
The court stated the citizenship criteria “do not create arbitrary discrimination against Turkish Cypriots or those born to Turkish parents” but instead “ensure that illegal situations and actions contrary to the interests of the Republic are not legitimised.”
The case involved a woman born in the Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus to a Turkish Cypriot mother and a Turkish father. She had applied for Cypriot citizenship based on descent but was rejected because one parent fell under the category where “entry or residence in Cyprus of any of the parents of the person concerned was illegal.”
The Interior Ministry placed her application on a waiting list for potential favourable consideration if the Cabinet’s criteria were expanded.
The applicant challenged the decision in the Administrative Court, arguing the criteria violated equality principles and discriminated based on ethnic origin. She claimed the requirement regarding the legality of parents’ entry disproportionately affected Turkish Cypriots and denied European citizenship rights.
In its ruling, the court referenced significant European Court of Human Rights decisions, including Cyprus v. Turkey (2001) and Loizidou v. Turkey (1996).
“Both Article 109 of the Constitution through its reservation and the [Cabinet’s] criteria do not establish arbitrary discrimination against Turkish Cypriots or those born to Turkish parents,” the court stated.
The ruling emphasised that Cyprus has no obligation to grant citizenship to all applicants, noting that “granting Cypriot citizenship is at the discretion of the Administration and an expression of the sovereign right of the State.”
The court concluded that the criteria maintain “a reasonable relationship of proportionality and a complete, objective correlation with the peculiar conditions experienced by the Republic of Cyprus.”
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