Turkish Cypriots Living Abroad
Turkish Cypriots Living Abroad
The migration movement of Turkish Cypriots initially began when the island of Cyprus came out of Ottoman rule with its lease to the British Empire in 1878 and continued to increase after the unilateral annexation of the island by the Empire in 1914, as many Turkish Cypriots settled in Türkiye through large waves of migration. Starting from 1931, the efforts of the Greek Cypriots to realize the annexation of Cyprus to Greece (ENOSIS) and turn the Island into a completely Hellenic (Greek) Island created much discomfort, unrest and uncertainty for Turkish Cypriots, in addition to the already limited opportunities and economic conditions prevailing on the Island, and became one of the primary reasons for their migration to foreign countries in recent history. The United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, the United States of America and Türkiye are amongst the countries that the Turkish Cypriots have mass migrated.
Upon the Island’s lease to the British Empire, the inhabitants of Cyprus were granted the status of “British subject”. With this development, new opportunities arose for the inhabitants of Cyprus, and as a result, a large wave of migration to this country occurred in the following years by Turkish Cypriots. Moreover, during the First World War, many Turkish Cypriots had joined the British army and fought in various countries, eventually settling in the United Kingdom following the end of the war. As a result of the economic instabilities on the Island during the Second World War, migrations occurred once again. Nevertheless, it is a known fact that the most intensive migration from Cyprus to the United Kingdom happened after the year 1960 and those migrating moved primarily to the city of London and Manchester. The Turkish Cypriots have also migrated to Australia, during the years of the Second World War, gaining momentum between 1950 and 1960. Clearly, the economic difficulties created by the political unrest on the Island forced the Turkish Cypriots to migrate. The Turkish Cypriots were the only Muslim community which was granted permission to enter Australia according to the “White Australia Policy”. Turkish Cypriot immigrants in Australia initially worked in factories, agricultural areas or in the construction sector. However, after gaining economic strength, most Turkish Cypriots started to set up their own businesses. It is known that most of the Turkish Cypriots in Australia have settled intensively in Victoria and to the northwest of Melbourne.
As a result of the political and economic restrictions imposed on them on the island, the migration of Turkish Cypriots, particularly to the United Kingdom, Australia, and Turkey, continued for many years. After the Greek Cypriot Administration totally usurped the control of the government of the 1960 Partnership Republic in December 1963, the Turkish Cypriots were not only forced to leave but were also encouraged to migrate through administrative and economic incentives offered by the Greek Cypriots, as part of a deliberate migration policy enforced on them. The fact that the Cyprus issue is yet to be resolved with a comprehensive agreement along with the difficulties faced by the Turkish Cypriots due to the economic embargoes applied to our State, the migration unfortunately still continues albeit in a much smaller scale.
A significant number of our citizens living abroad have permanent residence status in the countries they have migrated to and have acquired the citizenship of that country. Since the migration of Turkish Cypriots dates back to 1878, we now have third or even fourth generation Turkish Cypriots living abroad. Turkish Cypriots have significantly contributed to the economic development of the countries they have migrated to. A significant number of our migrated citizens have become academics, scientists, doctors, engineers, advocates, journalists, businesspeople, artists, politicians and sportsmen and have contributed to the political, social, economic and cultural life of the countries they have migrated to.
Efforts are being made by our Ministry’s relevant units and overseas missions to provide better service to our citizens living abroad; ensure the necessary coordination and strengthen their ties with the TRNC; assist in overcoming their problems; provide necessary information on the legislation and procedures to follow in their relations with official authorities; coordinate the completion of their procedures, and ensure the effective activities of our citizens in coordination with Cypriot Turkish civil society organizations abroad.
In addition to the consular services provided to our citizens living abroad through our Ministry's overseas units, the issues faced by our citizens are also monitored, and efforts are made to assist them. In this context, the relevant units of our Ministry ensure the cooperation and coordination of our overseas units with other ministries, local authorities, and institutions, providing them with all the information and documents requested. They also ensure the effective functioning of its representatives by establishing the necessary cooperation and coordination and providing all kinds of support.
Furthermore, our Ministry aims to help our citizens living abroad become more active in the countries they reside in, adapt to society, continue their lives, receive the necessary education for young generations to learn their native language, culture, and history, preserve our cultural richness while contributing to the culture of the countries they live in, and establish and develop civil society organizations to represent themselves in the public sphere and directly communicate with the governments of the countries they live in.
Additionally, our Ministry informs our citizens and civil society organizations, through our missions, about the procedures related to government processes, customs, investment, property acquisition, higher education, return migration, and many other regulations concerning the needs of our citizens living abroad.
TRNC Representative Offices, in addition to providing various services to our citizens, also take the initiative to strengthen the bonds of our citizens with their homeland in various ways. Our Ministry provides consular services through our Representative Offices to our citizens residing abroad. Birth, death and marriage certificates, military service, inheritance and certification of documents are amongst the services facilitated. In this connection, the Departments of our Ministry provide cooperation and coordination between our foreign missions and the other ministries, local authorities and institutions and obtain and put through all information and documents requested. Our Ministry also strives to provide the necessary cooperation, coordination and support for the effective working of our Representatives offices. Our Ministry also provides through our Representative Offices to TRNC citizens and Turkish Cypriot NGO’s abroad information on relevant bureaucratic procedures regarding customs, investment, property purchase, higher education, military service, repatriation and other rules and regulations as required.
Our Ministry aims to meet the requests of our citizens conveyed through our Representative Offices, together with the requests of our citizens residing in countries where we currently do not have representation. We will provide all that we can in order to help strengthen the ties of our citizens and of the Turkish Cypriot non-governmental organizations established abroad, by providing all kinds of support and coordination in order to establish a more efficient lobby to function in their country of residence.
Turkish Cypriots live abroad without breaking their original cultural and linguistic ties and by contributing to the cultural life of the community they currently live abroad in respect of the legal system. In addition to consolidating teachers to the Turkish language schools abroad in numbers possible within our means, for the purpose of keeping native tongue and culture of Turkish Cypriots alive. Our State also contributes as much as possible to festivals and other cultural activities organized abroad by Turkish Cypriot NGO’s, which aim to introduce, promote and experience the Turkish Cypriot culture.