TURKISH Cypriot politicians who hold Cypriot passports could soon be crossing the buffer zone to sue newspapers for publishing their personal data, it emerged yesterday.
The news comes after the Turkish newspaper, Star embarrassed politicians in the north by printing their names and pictures, and the names of family members who hold Republic of Cyprus passports. Among those exposed were hardline ‘Prime Minister’ Dervis Eroglu's daughters, ‘Parliamentary Chairman’ Hasan Bozer and his wife, and the Turkish-Cypriot ‘ministers’ of education, finance, health and interior.
According to media reports, some of the exposed politicians are furious at the breach of their personal data and allegations that they have tacitly recognised the Republic, and they now intend to pursue the matter in the Republic's courts.
So far, no politicians have approached the Office of the Commissioner for Data Protection (OCDR) which deals with such complaints.
An officer at the OCDR said yesterday "To my knowledge, nobody has complained yet, and I don't think that a Turkish-Cypriot would. But if they did then this would not be a data protection issue, but about application of Passport Legislation and would be the responsibility of the Passport office."
He added "Citizens of the Republic of Cyprus, including Turkish-Cypriots living in the occupied area, are protected by laws that regulate passports."
A spokesperson for the OCDR did, however, tell a Kibris newspaper reporter that complaints could be submitted to the OCDR, and if unresolved, could proceed to court.
The leaked list of passport holders has been suspected of being an attempt by the pro-solution Turkish Cypriot leader, Mehmet Ali Talat's administration to discredit his opponents ahead of the general election in April.
Political figures have tried to seize on the issue. Sener Eltsil, Head of the Turkish Cypriot Teacher's Union, (KTOS) said that it was contradictory to claim ‘TRNC national status’ and support a two state solution, while holding a Republic of Cyprus Passport.
Eroglu sought to play down the leaked list however, dismissing it as "propaganda".
Cyprus-Mail
By:ABAG on Şub 20, 2010
This revelation is nothing - just wait till the banks are supeonaed to appear in the Washington DC courts and all the bank accounts are opened to reveal a dodgy money trail or two, or three - how many rear ends are twitching as the lawsuit really reveals what they Ministers, Lawyers, Estate Agents,
