De facto identity documents (Part I): challenging the circular logics of citizenship  

Guest post by Bart Klem. Bart Klem is an associate professor at Gothenburg University. Most citizens of unrecognized states do have legal identity documents, but these are shrouded in fundamental uncertainty. This raises empirical, conceptual and moral questions. This is Part I of a three-part series on Northern Cyprus. 

Being recognized by the state as a “person before the law” is foundational to modern human life. This recognition comes in the form of legal documents which provide acknowledgement of our entire lifespan, from birth certificates to death certificates. Without recognized legal identity documents, people lack (as Hannah Arendt famously wrote) the right to have rights.  

But what if the entity that recognizes you is itself unrecognized? What does it mean to be a person before the law, when that law was written by a state that is itself considered illegal? This is no marginal phenomenon: ICRC estimates that millions of people carry legal documents from an unrecognized state (see also our edited collection and Katharine Fortin’s legal reflections). 

This three-part blogpost discusses the life trajectories of people who grapple with these questions on an everyday basis. 

Passports of a de facto state 

This passport (left) is a legal identity document issued by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), a de facto state in Northern Cyprus (a “make-believe” state, dixit Yael Navaro). It looks like a passport and says as much on the cover. It features the name and the logo of the issuing state. It confirms the citizenship status of the person pictured inside.  

In fact, it looks very similar to the passport of the Republic of Cyprus (RoC), which is a recognized country and a European Union member state (right). The TRNC passport looks like a duplicate, but one with subtle differences. 

Note the different dates enshrined in the emblems: 1960, referring to Cyprus’ independence, and 1983, which is the founding date of the TRNC. Also note that the bird on the TRNC passport looks up to the crescent and star, a symbolic reference to Turkey, as if paying tribute to its neighbour for its military protection, its diplomatic cover, and its relentless financial support. 

According to the RoC authorities in the South, the document to the right is no passport and the TRNC is not a state. It is a legal nullity, a self-declared entity brought about by the illegal Turkish invasion of 1974 and its continued occupation of sovereign Cypriot soil. The Turkish-Cypriot perspective evidently differs, but the consequences of this rejection are very real. 

Living in “half a country” 

Today, most Turkish Cypriots have an RoC passport, which is now extended to all Cypriots with a “pure” Cypriot family tree. Yet, that excludes large parts of the TRNC population.  

“Kareem” was born in Turkey and as a young child, he joined his father who had come to work in the TRNC in the 2000s. The RoC considers Kareem, or any Turk arriving after Turkey’s 1974 intervention, as a settler.  

Kareem has TRNC papers, but for his major life needs, he uses his Turkish documents. “My place of birth is in Antakya, Turkey. It is a recognized place. It says that on my passport. If I want to apply for a visa, they see Antakya.” 

TRNC documents are always a source of concern, he adds. “Because they were issued by a questionable state. I did not get married in the TRNC. We married in Turkey. For this reason. Because if I go somewhere with my wife, they will see we are married in a recognized way. If I ever have children, I want them to be born in Turkey. I am living the advantage of being born in Turkey and not in (Northern) Cyprus. I will make sure that my children get both Turkish and TRNC citizenship.” 

This is practical thing, Kareem underlines. He does not question the TRNC’s legitimacy as a state. “I am happy that the TRNC exists. It is a way of representing the Turkish Cypriots. Whether or not you recognize the TRNC, it exists here, and we are living within it.”  

An indefinite waiting room 

Using the Turkish parent state as a workaround is not an option for everyone, though. This is “Hilda”. 

She was born in the TRNC to parents of Turkish origin and thus has no access to RoC citizenship. She went to study in Turkey and became an activist there. As a result, she was accused of supporting the Kurdish movement. She was imprisoned and suffered brutal treatment. 

Upon her release, she was deported to Northern Cyprus. She worries about being arrested, the moment she sets foot on Turkish soil. Even if that soil is the international transit terminal of a Turkish airport. 

And as a result, Hilda is stuck. She cannot go South. The RoC refuses her entry because it considers her a hostile settler. Neither can she go North. She would risk imprisonment by the Turkish authorities who consider her cloak-and-dagger terrorist. As an unrecognized state, the TRNC has no flights or ferries to other states. 

She lives a modern life in a European country, where she has a meaningful job, a comfortable flat and fashionable lifestyle, but she is stuck. If the TRNC is a state-in-waiting, Hilda is one of the people sitting in its indefinite waiting room. 

A legal place for subjects of an illegal state  

The established community of recognized sovereign states jettisons the legality of entities like the TRNC in the name of international law – sometimes for good reason. Crimea, Somaliland, Taiwan and Western Sahara are all draped in diplomatic red tape, albeit in different ways. 

Indeed, the TRNC’s legality and legitimacy can be questioned. In fact, many TRNC citizens do so every day. But the world cannot deny the existence of a society of right-bearing people living in the North of Cyprus, be they “original” Turkish-Cypriots, Cypriots with a partly Turkish by family lineage, or – as discussed in Part II – migrants and refugees.  

Read part II

The author thanks Emmanuel Achiri, Oğuz Haksever, Darrian Traynor, Ayman Makarem, Hisham Rifai and Marika Sosnowski for their contributions.  

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