The leader of the People’s Party, Kudret Özersay, criticized the Greek Cypriot leadership, stating that additional difficulties were being imposed on some citizens during crossings to the South.
The leader of the People’s Party, Kudret Özersay, stated that at the Metehan checkpoint, some citizens were denied road tax permits on the grounds that they did not have South Cyprus-issued identity documents. Additionally, if these citizens’ names were listed on vehicle registration documents, the vehicles in question were also not allowed to cross, effectively imposing a new restriction on driving in the South.
In a written statement, Özersay called on Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides, questioning whether these newly imposed difficulties were the result of rule changes or new instructions given to officials at the crossings.
“If that is not the case, then it means these difficulties are being arbitrarily created by the officials on duty, which amounts to the introduction of new administrative barriers,” he said.
Referring to the Greek Cypriot leadership’s previous statements about granting citizenship to children of mixed marriages and facilitating new openings, Özersay asked, “Does the Greek Cypriot leader realize that instead of making new openings, they are actually making life even harder for our citizens?” and called for an end to this contradictory situation.
Özersay further stressed that “they are already preventing thousands of our citizens from crossing to the South due to their origins, engaging in discrimination, but now they are adding further difficulties through additional discriminatory practices even for those who are allowed to cross.”
Questioning why there had been a sudden step back from allowing these individuals to drive their vehicles in the South after so many years, Özersay asked why they were being punished and called on the TRNC Presidency to take action on the matter. brt
