"You were not born": Malta embassy tells woman born in TRNC

A woman with dual citizenship of Turkiye and TRNC was denied consular service at the Malta embassy in Turkey because her place of birth (TRNC) was not recognized by them.

According to the report by Yeniduzen, Ezgi Bertiz's visa application was not accepted at the Malta Consulate because her place of birth was written as "TRNC" in her Turkish passport.

Ezgi Bertiz who is an Artist explained that although she is a citizen of the Republic of Turkey and the TRNC, she could not even apply for a visa at the Malta Consulate because her place of birth appeared as "TRNC" in her Turkish passport, and that she was taken out of the consulate building by being told "we do not know the country you were born in, in our opinion, you were not born".

Making a statement on her personal social media account, Bertiz emphasized that she was subjected to human rights violation and pointed out that her right to apply for a visa was taken away.

Stating that she continues her life as a citizen of the Turkish Republic and the TRNC, which is called "without identity", Bertiz said that she has experienced grievances on many issues in this context.

Describing the process she went through, Bertiz stated that she wanted to apply for a visa by going to the Malta Consulate in Ankara and that she did all her transactions through Turkish Republic and with her Turkish passport.

Stating that her application was not even accepted because her place of birth was written in TRNC on her Turkish passport, without being even allowed in by the Malta Consulate, Bertiz said, "Although I tried many times to explain that all my documents were obtained from the Republic of Turkey as a Turkish citizen, what I was told was this: You may be a Turkish citizen, but you were born in the TRNC." And we cannot evaluate you because we do not know the country in which you were born, therefore, in our opinion, you were not born."

Bertiz explained what she experienced as follows:

"We were h(p)icilized today too.

I am a citizen of Turkish Republic and TRNC.

I am a person who is called anonymous people and who, like all my other friends, suffers from many issues.

Today, I came to the Malta Consulate in Ankara to apply for a Malta visa with my Turkish passport, taking care to obtain all my documents through the Turkish Republic. During this process, I hired a consultant and had all my documents examined meticulously beforehand. In short, I went to apply with my Turkish identity card and all the required documents obtained from the Republic of Turkey.

Before I was even allowed in, the Maltese Consulate told me that we cannot even accept your application because my passport says my place of birth is TRNC. Although I tried many times to explain that all my documents were obtained from the Republic of Turkey as a Turkish citizen, what I was told was this;

You may be a Turkish citizen, but you were born in TRNC and we cannot evaluate you because we do not know the country you were born in, so in our opinion, you were not born.

Since I could never be born anywhere else again, I asked what we could do about it and was just taken out.

"The fact that even my right to apply has been taken away from me is a human rights violation and I want this to be heard."