Greek Cypriot citizenship gives advantage to opposition

LEFKOSA (AA) – TRNC President Rauf Denktas said on Saturday that the developments about giving citizenship was open to wrong comments and it gave an advantage to the opposition in TRNC.

"The Supreme Board of Election had to get the list of persons who recently got citizenship and investigate if the citizenship given to them was legal or not," told Denktas to A.A correspondent on the phone.

Responding to questions of A.A correspondent about the news published in the Turkish press about giving citizenship prior to the elections in TRNC, Denktas who is in Istanbul, said that an advantage was given to the opposition.

"In legal aspect these persons could not get the citizenship which was their right for years and they were kept waiting due to reasons which I don’t know. But the image is wrong. I tried to prevent that, but I was not successful. It was stated that the right of the citizens should be given and this right was given. Claims of certain newspapers caricaturing that by telling that ‘citizenship has also started to be given on the internet’ and their bringing onto agenda only the view of the opposition is not right and not ethical," said Denktas.

TRNC President Denktas said that Supreme Board of Election was an institution obliged to determine the violation of rules claimed to have taken place. "I propose the Board to get the list of persons who recently got citizenship, investigate if the citizenship given to them was legal or not and give a decision," he added.

Denktas said that the legitimacy of those, who would take part in voters list, would be proved by this way. He added that necessary legal response would be given to the act of the opposition, which understood that it would lose the elections, to cast shadow over elections, and to leave TRNC and Turkey under suspicion.

Denktas said that if YSK was waiting for a complaint from any offices to do what he said, he was making this complaint now as the President.

Noting that there should not be any uncertainty in elections, Denktas said that the opposition was deceiving people by following Annan Plan which envisioned spreading Turkish Cypriots among 700 thousand Greek Cypriots. He added that people who understood this reality would give the necessary lesson to them by their votes.

Denktas said that if YSK could not take his complaint into consideration rapidly due to procedures, the examination would be made later and YSK would provide elections list to include voters who had legal rights.