Court case starts against Turkish Cypriot denied entry to Turkey

By Nikolaos Prakas

Turkish Cypriot activist Munur Rahvancioglu’s case over being barred from entering Turkey has been taken to court, the Independence Road movement, which he is deputy secretary-general of, announced on Friday.

The activist had been barred from entering Turkey based on code N82, which states that the individual is a foreigner that needs to receive permission before entering Turkey.

According to reports in the north, the case has been taken up by NGO Halkevleri in Turkey, which is representing Rahvancioglu with their lawyer Sercan Aran, and committee member Mustafa Eberlikose.

The appeal, according to Independence Road, states that Rahvancioglu’s freedom of movement was unlawfully impeded by Turkey’s administrative practice despite the absence of an investigation, indictment, warrant for his arrest, or conviction in Turkey.

In the appeal, the movement said this act violates the European Convention on Human Rights and Free Movement, and explanations were requested.

The appeal calls for the decision by Turkey to be annulled or lifted and noted that if no written response is given within a month, legal action will be taken.

Last week, reports in the north said that eight more Turkish Cypriots had been barred from entering Turkey, after Ankara branded some of them as suspected national security threats and then required them to obtain a special permit.

Some are journalists and others are opposition supporters or activists in the north.

The latest person to be barred is Havadis newspaper journalist Basaran Duzgun, who was notified he needed to meet the requirements of code N82.

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N82 seems to have taken the place of G82, which was used to previously ban five Turkish Cypriots from entering Turkey.

The code G82 specified that foreigners that have been suspected of involvement in activities against national security and were not allowed to enter Turkey.

The eight people that have been barred entry are Basaran Duzgun, former director of BRTK Aysu Basri Akter, former ‘presidency’ press coordinator Ali Bizden, researcher Ahmet Cavit, journalist union (Basin-sen) chairman Ali Kismir, Left Movement Secretary General Abdullah Korkmazhan, and activists Münür Rahvancioglu and Okan Dagli.

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