European elections: No Turkish Cypriots for the EU parliament

Although EU law does not apply in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) because the other EU member states have refused to recognise the TRNC most Turkish Cypriots also hold citizenship of the Republic of Cyprus, which became an EU member in 2004, and can therefore take part in the European elections. Sener Levent, who is running for the second time as an independent candidate, complains that there will be no Turkish Cypriots in the EU Parliament: "Neither the disinterest of the people nor the fact that everything is being left to fate are surprising. Neither the people in the North nor those in the South exert pressure on their leaders. … The fact that this time not a single Turkish Cypriot will be voted into the European Parliament is even more unfortunate for the Greek Cypriots than it is for Turkish Cypriots. Why? Because the realities of Cyprus as presented in the EU Parliament by a Greek Cypriot MEP cannot carry as much weight as the realities a Turkish Cypriot would present."

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