Birmingham has just hosted the European Athletics Championships.
Once again, while the Republic of Cyprus competed, we saw no sign of a Turkish Cypriot athlete. For Turkish Cypriots remain isolated and embargoed.
The 2024 Olympics in Paris highlighted the absurdity of the isolation that Turkish Cypriots face both inside and
outside of Cyprus.
The final of the Women’s High Jump featured two athletes residing in Cyprus.
One, Buse Savaşkan, (pictured below) was representing Türkiye.
The other, Elena Kulichenko, represented Cyprus.
Buse Savaşkan was born in Cyprus, to a Turkish Cypriot mother and a (mainland) Turkish father.
Although she had no intention to do so, had she wanted to represent the Republic of Cyprus in the Olympics, she could not. For being the descendant of a mainland Turkish father she is considered by the Greek Cypriot Administration to be a ‘settler’ and would be automatically disqualified by the Republic of Cyprus administration. Having one mainland Turkish parent means she cannot ever be considered as ‘Cypriot’ by the Greek Cypriot administration. The same will apply to any children she may bear. She is not only unable to represent Cyprus in sport but is also ineligible for a Cyprus passport. This decision is taken by the same administration which claims to be the government of the whole island
and of all Cypriots. None of the above would apply if her father were mainland Greek.
Elena Kulichenko was born in Russia, to two Russian-born parents who are both Russian citizens.
She grew up in Russia and had represented the country internationally, becoming the 2017 Russian U-18 Outdoor Champion. She later became a neutral athlete in 2018 following a ban on Russian athletes. Despite having none of the Cypriotness of Buse, when she moved to Cyprus with her parents, there was no obstacle to her quickly receiving a Republic of Cyprus passport and representing ‘Cyprus’ at the Olympics.
The example of Savaşkan and Kulichenko is sadly not an isolated case.
When viewing the double-standards on display it is impossible not to conclude that the policies employed by the Republic of Cyprus are anything less than, cruel, anti-Turkish and, frankly, racist.