Turkish Cypriots bribe gangs in south to obtain citizenship for their kids

Greek Cypriot gangs have been accused of taking bribe in exchange for Cypriot citizenships for children of mixed marriages, primarily between Turkish Cypriots and Turkish nationals.

This was made known by a prominent Turkish Cypriot Union leader on Friday.

Sener Elcil, the general secretary of Ktos, the Turkish Cypriot teachers union, claimed gangs receive money and then manage to grant Cypriot citizenship to children of mixed marriages, reports Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris last week.

According to him, the issue stems from Cyprus’ apparent refusal to grant citizenship to children of only one Turkish Cypriot parent.

Elcil claims there are 17,000 children from mixed marriages between Turkish Cypriots and Turkish people that are trying to obtain Cypriot citizenship “but can’t get very far” and so resort to bribing gangs as they have no other options.

He noted that through these gangs, Turkish Cypriots who use foul language about the TRNC have obtained citizenship while those that seek peace on the island and trying to use the proper procedure cannot get citizenship.

According to him, 300 applications from the latter group have so far reached the Ktos which is trying to help them through an initiative making use of groups from south Cyprus such as the migrant support NGO Kisa, as well as political parties and teachers.

A total of 4,000 applications will be re-evaluated through the initiative, he added.