Voting and standing in national elections

Living in the south●Obstructed55/100

In Aziz v. Cyprus (2004) the European Court of Human Rights found that Cyprus's refusal to register a Turkish Cypriot voter violated the Convention — a discrimination finding tied to communal classification, not to a second citizenship. Law 2(I)/2006 then gave south-resident Turkish Cypriots the right to vote and stand for the 56 Greek-community seats in the House, and to vote in presidential, municipal and community elections. The law's candidacy rights do not include standing for President. It requires six months of habitual residence in the south. In the first election under the law, in 2006, the government reported 270 Turkish Cypriot voters and one candidate to the Council of Europe. The final electoral roll for the May 2026 election was 859 Turkish Cypriots, up from the 837 announced in February. A Turkish Cypriot candidate stood in 2026 and was not elected, per the official results roster.^12345678

Living in the north●Withheld10/100

The 2006 law that followed Aziz v. Cyprus lets Turkish Cypriots vote and stand in parliamentary elections only if they are habitually resident in the government-controlled areas. Turkish Cypriots resident in the north are not on that roll. The Central Elections Service's own electorate page confirms this — its automatic Special Electoral Roll covers European Parliament elections only, and states no equivalent arrangement for national elections for north residents. No arrangement has been documented that lets a north resident who is not on the south's roll vote in House elections.¹²³⁹