Landlords have no right to enter your apartment without your consent - Turkish Cypriot lawyer

Ramadan Sanivar

A conference on the rights and challenges of international students in Northern Cyprus organized by the Near East University International Law Student Association was held on Tuesday November 20 at the university campus in Lefkosa. 

Guests speakers at the event held at the Grand Library includes; Turkish Cypriot lawyer, Ramadan Sanivar and Volkan Ozkan Kirkali who spoke extensively on issues students schooling in the island are facing including drug crime, immigration and tenancy.

Speaking on legal issues regarding criminal law, Mr. Sanivar, (LLM, Eastern Mediterranean University) an Attorney at Law, Specialist in Criminal Law, and the Lawyer representing African Students in the islsand, said a new law on drug was enacted in May 2016, that differentiated between drug consumption and drug dealing.

According to him, prior to this law, offenders who were foreign students were mostly deported back to their country, but after the new law was introduced, students involved in a small amount of drug consumption may go on probation on the condition that they report at the Police station and sign there periodically, as well as paying a visit to a Psychiatrist at Barış Ruh ve Sinir Hastalıkları hospital.

Also, blood tests are now carried out on offenders to determine if they has stopped consuming drugs. If an offender passes this probation period successfully, their passport may be given back to them without having a criminal record at the Police station.

Speaking on the issue of police questioning, Mr. Sanivar said that if a student was arrested by the police, they have the right to ask for a lawyer and an interpreter to be present during the investigation and writing of the statement. He noted that in some cases, students were forced into signing statements in Turkish that they didn’t even understand.

Speaking on the new immigration laws that was recently passe by the North Cyprus authorities, he said, each student studying in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, must process their residency permit and if a student stays on the island and fails to renew their residency permit, they will face a fine of 94 Turkish Lira for every single day that passed without a residency permit.

And according to him, any one who refused to pay this fine, will be allowed to leave the country but will not be allowed to return to the island except they agreed to pay double the amount when they return.

Volkan Ozkan Kirkali

The second speaker, Mr. Kirkali (LLB, University of North London), Partner in the law and consulting firm KIRKMAN & Co. discussed the rights of international students in Cyprus, accommodation, financial transactions and employment.

Speaking on accommodation, he said students should not sign any contracts without having them translated into English if they can’t understand Turkish and according to him, it is important to have a lawyer read the contract before signing it.

Mr. Kirkali said that students should always have a copy of the tenancy agreement signed and stamped by the tax office, and advised students to keep receipts or wire the money through bank transfers to their landlord.

He also urged students to pay attention to possessions/properties in the house and whether some of the things mentioned in the contract are actually found in the apartment/house or not.

He also noted that landlords do not have the right to enter into the apartment of any student without the knowledge and consent of the student renting it and if such a thing happens, the landlord is simply breaking the law.

As for cases where students are evicted from the property, Mr. Kirkali said that eviction cases takes at least three months to execute.

At the end of their talks, both speakers encouraged students to come forward if they feel they need assistance in legal matters while staying on the island.

Culled and edited from Lefkosh.