Northern Cyprus to decriminalise homosexuality

Former Cyprus politician Michalis Sarris is paraded outside the court by police with one of the teenagers arrested

By Paul Canning

Turkish Cypriot leaders have bowed to pressure from MEPs and agreed to repeal a law outlawing homosexuality.

Dervis Eroglu, the leader of the Turkish Cypriot government in the northern part of Cyprus said he would sign a repeal of the ban into law.

Northern Cyprus is the last part of Europe where it is illegal to be gay.

MEPs also pressed Eroglu to keep his promise to ensure that any new law includes a provision to protect children from sexual abuse.

In a 13 December letter to British Conservative MEP for London Marina Yannakoudakis from Eroglu , he writes:

"The draft proposal for the repeal of the part of the criminal code, chapter 154, which penalises same sex sexual activity has been submitted to the general assembly on 25 October 2011 by a political party, the Communal Democracy Party. This draft legislation states that not only girls and women but also boys and men can be victims of rape and sexual abuse."

Eroglu pledged to support the repeal, saying:

"We gave our considered opinion to the government that the draft proposal concerned should be adopted and section 171 should be abolished without delay."

Yannakoudakis has led a campaign for the the law change.

She said:

"I am pleased that Eroglu has honoured the promise he made to me in October."

"There have been a number of concerns about human rights in the northern part of Cyprus. By agreeing to decriminalise homosexuality Eroglu is taking concrete measures to ensure those living in the north part of Cyprus may enjoy the same human rights as their fellow Europeans."

In October a number of men were arrested for 'homosexual offenses' in North Cyprus, leading to an international outcry about the law.

They included former finance minister Michalis Sarris. He skipped a 17 November court appearance, forgoing €47,000 bail money. Yesterday he was appointed chairman of Marfin Popular Bank, the island’s second-biggest lender.

Sariss has described the circumstances of his arrest as "strange".

Four of those arrested accused the police of brutality. Northern Cyprus group Initiative Against Homophobia accused the Northern Cyprus media in their reporting of the case of 'normalizing an attitude of hatred' and 'feeding homophobic reports and comments to the public'.

Related articles

• More arrests in Northern Cyprus for supposed gay sex (madikazemi.blogspot.com)

More arrests in Northern Cyprus for supposed gay sex

Northern Cyprus politician Michalis Sarris is paraded outside the court by police with one of the teenagers arrested

By Paul Canning

It has emerged that at least five men have been arrested in North Cyprus for 'homosexual offenses', not three as previously reported.

The Cyprus Mail reports that in addition to former finance minister Michalis Sarris there are four others aged 14, 16, 17 and 29. ILGA-Europe says that they believe there are seven now in custody.

During Monday’s remand hearing in Nicosia, Northern Cyprus police requested a further eight day remand for those already seized to take testimonies from 20 more people, three of whom were missing.

At the hearing four men complained of police brutality in detention but a judge ordered them back into detention, though the court also ordered that all five be examined by a doctor.

The three teenagers were taken from the court in handcuffs with T-shirts pulled over their heads to a waiting press outside the courtroom as friends looked on in sympathy.

I understand that there has been much speculation in the North Turkish media regarding sexual contact between Sarris and a teenager based on the alleged charge of sex with a minor despite their being no such charge, only the homosexual offense of 'committing an unnatural act', which is a hangover from the British Empire. The Cyprus Mail report was illustrated with a picture of Sarris being paraded in front of the cameras by police with one of the teenagers.

Northern Cyprus group Initiative Against Homophobia has accused the Northern Cyprus media in their reporting of the case of 'normalizing an attitude of hatred' and 'feeding homophobic reports and comments to the public'.

The Cyprus Mail reports that:

A doctor who examined both Sarris and the 17-year-old testified before the court, ruling out the possibility of sexual contact between the two. She also told the court that the 17-year-old had a wound on his forehead which did not exist when he was first examined on Friday.

ILGA-Europe claims that:

"Their [the arrested] dignity was breached when the men were made to undergo anal examinations in a hospital to prove that [the sodomy law] has been breached."

On Saturday, Turkish Cypriot police rounded up two teenagers, aged 14 and 16, claiming that the 14-year-old had confessed to having sexual relations with the 29-year-old. They also said they had a written confession from the 17-year-old regarding his relations with Sarris. This was after raiding a house in North Nicosia and arresting Sarris and two others.

The 17-year-old has continually alleged police brutality and named the alleged police perpetrators in court who he said beat him to extract a 'confession'. The 29-year-old, the Cyprus Mail said, had injuries showing clearly on his face.

A member of the Council of Europe’s Legal Affairs and Human Rights committee, Christos Pourgourides, who was present at the hearing, said that he would take the case to the Council.

A lawyer pointed out to Cyprus Mail that as Northern Cyprus police are controlled by Turkey it would be Turkey taken to the European Court - despite homosexuality being legal there.

Michael Cashman MEP, Co-president of the Intergroup on LGBT Rights in the European Parliament, today called for the release of the men:

"The binding jurisprudence from the European Court of Human Rights must be implemented immediately in the whole island of Cyprus," he said. "The criminalisation of homosexuality has no place in the 21st century.”

ILGA-Europe has also sent a letter to the President and the Prime Minister of Northern Cyprus demanding the men's release.

ILGA-Europe say that they have been asking for the sodomy statute to be removed from the books for some time. They say they met with the Speaker of the Assembly, Hasan Bozer, in 2010 and were assured that he was well aware of the problem with the law and were told it was no longer enforced.

In July, two were charged with 'unnatural intercourse' in Northern Cyprus, which carries a five year imprisonment term.

The [Cypriot] Cyprus Republic in the south of the island decriminalised homosexuality in 1998.

Head of the Turkish Cypriot Human Rights Foundation Emine Erk said earlier that the use of the sodomy law is “usually mixed up with something else. Usually police are trying to pressure someone involved on some other issue.”

Update: The Greek Cypriot group Accept LGBTI Cyprus has issued a statement:

“We call on the international community, the European Union and also the Cypriot Republic to immediately exert pressure to ensure that the legal statues of the Cypriot Republic, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, is applied and the charges, thereby dropped.“

Turkish Cypriot daily Ortam reports that on Monday, outside the court, the New Cyprus Party (YKP) and seven civil society organizations gave a press conference saying "We do not want a homophobic state".

Writing in financialmirror.com, Fiona Mullen says that Sarris is suffering "Death by a thousand tweets"

She said that rumours about him are rife in Cyprus:

"One Turkish Cypriot suggested that the reason the police tried to make a more serious case was because they did not realise until after the arrest that they had caught “a big fish”, so rather than suffer the embarrassment of jailing someone just for homosexual sex, they had to scrabble for more serious charges. We shall probably never know if that theory is true."

Update, 20 October: Michalis Sarris has been released today on bail.

Update, 21 October: According to a legal source speaking to Cyprus Mail, Sarris faces the charge of committing an unnatural act with the 17-year-old. For the same act, he is being charged with conspiracy to commit a felony.

Police in the north are also claiming two separate incidents of indecent assault involving two males. The first involves a 16-year-old Turkish national who was not brought to court by police during any of the remand hearings. This 16-year-old is believed to be serving a jail sentence for a drugs-related offence. 

The second charge of indecent assault is connected to a 22-year-old Turkish national currently in detention for being in possession of a fake passport.

British Conservative MEP Marina Yannakoudakis says that she received assurances from Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu yesterday that he would sign a decriminalisation bill 'should it land on his desk'.

Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu yesterday,

Related articles

• More arrests of gays in Northern Cyprus (madikazemi.blogspot.com)

More arrests of gays in Northern Cyprus

Image via Wikipedia

By Paul Canning

Northern Cyprus LGBT group Initiative Against Homophobia reports that three more men have been arrested for homosexuality.

The three were charged with “relations against nature” 14 October.

In July, two were charged with 'unnatural intercourse', which carries a five year imprisonment term.

Northern Cyprus is the only country in Europe which retains such laws, in their case a relic of the British Empire.

According to the Cyprus Mail, one of those arrested is Michalis Sarris, a former finance minister.

Sources told the Cyprus Mail that the Turkish Cypriot authorities raided a house in north Nicosia, arresting three males: Sarris and two Turkish Cypriots, believed to be aged 17 and 30-something. The same sources said police in the north raided the house without a warrant.

Initiative Against Homophobia claim that the three "have been subjected to police violence."

Head of the Turkish Cypriot Human Rights Foundation Emine Erk said that she hoped that the high-profile arrest of a former finance minister and World Bank employee in connection with an alleged offense that has been decriminalised throughout Europe may bring attention to the need to change the law in the north.

Erk said that the law is “not very commonly applied”, with few charges actually been pressed.

“It’s usually mixed up with something else. Usually police are trying to pressure someone involved on some other issue,” she said, adding that raiding a private residence was also “not very common”.

The [Cypriot] Cyprus Republic decriminalised homosexuality in 1998 five years after gay activist Alecos Modinos won his battle at the European Court of Human Rights but it took another two years to have deliberately offensive terms describing homosexual relations removed from the new legislation and then only under threat from Europe.

In 2002, parliament removed a further bone of contention, equalizing the age of consent for heterosexuals and homosexuals to 17.

The Cyprus Mail notes that if Turkish Cypriot police pursue the case and it goes to trial, a further line of defense will be to question the validity of the crime itself since it violates the European Convention on Human Rights which the North has bound itself to.

Initiative Against Homophobia accuse the Northern Cyprus media in their reporting of the case of 'normalizing an attitude of hatred' and 'feeding homophobic reports and comments to the public'.

The group has called on "all concerned citizens, activists and human rights supporters not to remain silent and join us in voicing our concern in front of the State Courts in Nicosia."

Related articles

• In North Cyprus, arrests for gay sex (madikazemi.blogspot.com)

Iranian refugees in Sweden go on hunger strike, sew lips together

By Paul Canning

A large group of asylum-seeking Kurds in Stockholm have gone on hunger strike with some sewing their lips together in a desperate attempt to try and stop their removal to Iran

The men and women, who are also with their children, have been refusing food since 25 September.

They are political activists who have worked hard for human rights and for introducing democracy in Iran. As a result of their activities and their membership in various Kurdish political parties, they were forced to flee Iran and take refuge in Sweden.

Despite having been in the country for  up to eight years, and despite having photos and documents from the Nations High Commissioner for Refugees that confirm the obvious threat to their lives, the Swedish Migration Board has rejected their applications to stay in Sweden.

Their condition is deteriorating for every hour that passes - five men have already collapsed from hunger and been taken to the hospital.

One of those who sewed his lips together said:

“I am not treated as a human being. Most of us here have the same problem. The Migration Board does not understand our situation, they refuse to listen. We want to know why we have been refused a residence permit. Everybody here would rather die of starvation than be sent back.”

“We have begged and shouted, but the Migration Board has not listened. Now we will silence our voices, perhaps then they will listen”.

One of the photos pinned to a tent in which they are staying shows an Kurdish teacher in Iran, Farzad Kamangar, surrounded by some twenty children. Kamangar was executed three months ago for having taught the children to read and speak Kurdish. Another picture shows another Kurd, Shirin Alanholi, who was executed because she wanted freedom and democracy in Iran.

The Iranian Penal code detains and prosecutes political refugees who are returned to Iran.

Last year the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg ruled that Sweden’s deportation of an Iranian was in violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Despite this, Sweden has repeatedly made unlawful deportations.

Last December I reported on how the removal by Sweden of a lesbian Kurdish couple from Iraq had only been stopped by a ECHR ruling.

Iranian refugee activists have also been engaged with protesting the removal of asylum seekers from Norway, and abuse of Iranian refugees in Cyprus. In July, Cypriot police officers and other Cypriot authorities violently assaulted a group of Iranian and other refugees, including a 72 year old man, held in Larnaca detention center. Neither the government of Cyprus nor the UNHCR has taken any substantive action.

Iranian refugees in Greece have also gone on hunger strike in protest at their treatment and sewn their lips together. Refugees in Athens and other Greek cities have suffered repeated and violent vigilante attacks.

• Petition to Swedish authorities
• Petition to Cypriot authorities

Related articles

• Video: Ahmadinejad: 'No, still no gays in Iran' (madikazemi.blogspot.com)
• Video: In Cyprus, asylum detainees suffer violent, unprovoked assault (madikazemi.blogspot.com)

Video: In Cyprus, asylum detainees suffer violent, unprovoked assault

Source: MissionFreeIran

This clip shows the brutal violence inflicted on the back and neck of an Iranian refugee who came under attack by Cyprus Police during a 12 July 2011 attack on defenseless refugees at Larnaca detention center, a place where denied asylum-seekers are detained, sometimes for years. Approximately 25 refugees came under attack by Cypriot police, and it is reported that all of the refugees were beaten in the same way or worse.

As of 7 August 2011, no official action has been taken by any international authority or human rights organization, including the UNHCR, EU, the International Committee of the Red Cross, Amnesty International, or Human Rights Watch.

• Second video showing injuries.

Source: KISA - Action for Equality Support and Antiracism in Cyprus

After receiving a series of complaints, KISA has established that there has been an outbreak of police brutality against detainees in almost all towns in Cyprus. In particular, the complaints that have reached us refer to police violence against detainees occurring at the detention centers of Larnaca, Nicosia, and Paphos.

From contacts we have had with family members and detainees who had been victims of this brutal police violence, it seems that the incidents of attacks tended to be in retaliation to the detainees’ protests against their living conditions while in detention and the state’s attempts to deport them. KISA believes that none of the detainees’ protests or actions were in any way aiming to harm other individuals, nor did they require such a disproportionate and violent punishment.

At this point we need to stress that the abuse against detainees was not confined to physical abuse. Members of the police had also verbally abused detainees through the use of insulting and degrading language aimed at particular individuals and their countries of origin, while at the same time humiliating their religious symbols and beliefs.

In addition, when the physical and verbal abuse ceased, the police took a number of restrictive and punitive measures that aimed to further demoralise the detainees. In particular, the police confiscated the detainees’ personal phones thus preventing them to communicate with anyone outside detention, refused to allow their families to visit them, increased the daily hours of cell-confinement, and in some cases detainees were moved to other towns so as to make it even more difficult for them to have contact with their families and the outside world.

Finally, as we were informed, the detainees who could not be deported, such as people from Iran and Syria and stateless persons of Kurdish origin, encountered severe blackmail and psychological warfare in order to agree to “voluntary repatriation”. Especially in relation to Syrians, KISA considers particularly sad the fact that the Republic of Cyprus not only has it not taken a firm and clear position in relation to the brutality of the Syrian regime against the mass rising of the Syrian people, but it continues even today to deport people back to Syria.

KISA condemns all the incidents that have taken place in the detention centres around Cyprus, and urges the authorities to take all appropriate steps to ensure that the rights of all detainees are fully respected.

Related articles

• In Cyprus, an Iranian lesbian refugee struggles for sanctuary (madikazemi.blogspot.com) 
• “You were 23 then, you are 9 now”: Cyprus Abuse of Human Rights Allows Continuation of Crimes against Asylum-Seekers; UNHCR, Red Cross Share Responsibility for Crimes (missionfreeiran.org)

In North Cyprus, arrests for gay sex

Source: shortbusmovement
 
On 20th of July, two men were taken into custody and brought to the court accused in “unnatural intercourse” in North Cyprus [TRNC].

According to the law detainees are threatened by up to five years imprisonment. The defendant H.K. did not object to the arrest, while the defendant A. K. said “I am a single man”.

According to Kibris Newspaper, the police arrested one of the men in a hostel where he stayed and the other man in a park. Cyprus Turkish police claims that A.K. and H.K. were having an “unnatural intercourse” in the mentioned hostel operating within the walled city of Nicosia.

The police states that the men were arrested based on complaints by their neighbours. Police also said that defendant A. K. was the subject of earlier complaints that he “brings men home”. However, defendant A. K. said “I am a single man, they are slandering me” in the court.

Detainees’ hearing took place in Court of Nicosia in front of the Judge Fatma Senol. On behalf of Attorney General the prosecutor Aliye Ozcinar and two men were presented. The court heard Ercan Atasay, a police officer on duty at Judicial Branch Directorate connected to the Police Headquarters in Nicosia, as a witness.

Police officer Ercan Atasay has claimed that on 20th of July 2011 in Nicosia defendants have committed the crime of “having sexual relation against nature”. Police Officer said the investigation has already started and he asked for one day's detention for the defendants.

The defendant A.K. who said “I was a single man,” said that he was defamed, while the defendant H. K. did not object to the arrest. Thereupon, the judge Fatma Senol, decided that the two men under suspect should stay in custody for one day.

In TRNC article 171 of Chapter 154 of Criminal Code orders that “whoever has sexual intercourse against the order of nature with any person, or, allows sexual intercourse against the order of nature with a male, commits a heavy crime and is punished with up to five years of prison”.

LGBTQ people of Cyprus (south) had been freed from discriminatory laws of British colonial rule within the process of the EU accession. It is known that authorities in Cyprus south, despite all the reactions from political and religious groups, have amended the laws concerning the same-sex relations compatible with EU acquis.

However, the laws are in force still in North. LGBTQI people in north claim that the existing laws are not so powerful anymore as they used to be under the British colonial rule. However, male to male same-sex relations are still considered as heavy crime which causes insecurity.

Initiative Against Homophobia, is struggling to reform the law on sexual orientation which is one of the basic human rights and freedoms, in the process of harmonization the laws of the TRNC with the EU legislation.

In 2008 Initiative Against Homophobia has presented “Resolution regulating the presence of different sexual orientations” to the head of the Parliament of TRNC.

Related articles

• In Cyprus, an Iranian lesbian refugee struggles for sanctuary (madikazemi.blogspot.com)

In Cyprus, an Iranian lesbian refugee struggles for sanctuary

Image via Wikipedia

By Paul Canning

Cyprus has come under increasing criticism for its treatment of refugees, especially of Iranians. In April a group of allegedly illegally detained asylum seekers went on hunger strike. Last month there were protests at Cypriot embassies. Cyprus has one of the highest rates per capita of asylum seekers in the EU, however these numbers have been described as a 'quirk'. It also has one of the lowest acceptance rates in the EU for asylum claims.

Now the IRQR reports that the Cyprus government has rejected an asylum claim by an Iranian lesbian because she had been married and 'could therefore not be a lesbian.'.

Mandana fled Iran in June 2008 and a few days after her arrival, she was called for her only interview with the office of the Ministry of Asylum Service of the Republic of Cyprus.

The interview was conducted by a female officer and the interpreter was an Iranian man. In an email to the IRQR, Mandana wrote:

“I found out later that the interpreter is not professionally certified for this important matter, he is constantly travelling to Iran and he has a close relationship with the Iranian Embassy in Nicosia. When I said I was a lesbian, they both laughed and told me to go back to my country and hide myself, since, in their words, ‘we do not have any lesbians in Cyprus.’”

Problems with interpreters in LGBT asylum cases have been reported throughout the world, including with Iranians in Turkey, the main destination for LGBT Iranian refugees.

Read more »

Cyprus: gays labelled "social deviant" by party leader

Image via Wikipedia

Source: Cyprus Mail

Cyprus’ gay community is up in arms after a politician apparently branded them as social deviants.

DISY deputy Andreas Themistocleous stirred up a hornet’s nest when he seemingly likened homosexuality to pedophilia, bestiality and necrophilia.

The Internet is abuzz with reaction from gay groups and sympathisers, including a dedicated group on Facebook attacking Themistocleous. The group, set up only last week, is already 850 strong and counting. Among others, the deputy is called a racist, a chauvinist and a homophobic.

Themistocleous’ contentious remarks came during a live radio show discussing the Ombudswoman’s latest report recommending legal reforms to allow same-sex partnerships. At one point while debating with the Ombudswoman, the Limassol deputy said:

“Just because there exist among us pedophiles, people who practice bestiality, necrophiliacs and other criminals, should the state legitimise their status too?”

Themistocleous yesterday sought to clarify his position through Politis newspaper. He explained he was merely responding to the Ombudswoman’s argument that gay people always formed a significant section of society and should therefore be legitimised.

“For argument’s sake, I then cited the example of criminals, and she [the Ombudswoman] countered that the actions of these groups have negative consequences on other people. I then wondered how, by the same rationale, can the actions of someone who practices bestiality affect other people.

“But in no way did I equate the two types of behavior,” he added, evidently referring to homosexuality and bestiality.

Read more »

Cyprus: Ombudswoman says society must change its attitude to homosexuality

Source: Cyprus Mail

By Lucy Millett

THE OMBUDSWOMAN has accused the government of ‘turning a blind eye’ to the issue of gay rights.

In her capacity as head of the Anti-Discrimination Body, Iliana Nicolaou has said that the society must change its attitude to homosexuality and the state must stop behaving as though homosexual couples do not exist.

According to Nikolaou the government is guilty of discrimination by not recognising the rights of married gay couples to reside in EU states with their spouses even if they are from countries outside the bloc.

The Ombudswoman said that the state has an obligation to make it easier for partners to enter and reside in Cyprus, according to EU law.

The lack of legal recognition of same-sex partnerships means that non-EU nationals with Cypriot or EU partners are not granted residency and are often deported.

This happens despite the EU directive that Member States must facilitate entry and residence for people who are included in the definition of “family members”.

This should not be limited only to relations based on traditional marriage but also include people who live together. Member States must facilitate the right of residence of these partners, including spouses of a different sex, and must justify any refusal to grant entry or residence.

According to a Legal Services ruling last July, even though EU states are not obliged to accept gay partners of legal residents “taking into consideration the developments in human rights on homosexual issues, we can’t exclude the possibility of the European Court recognising gay relationships in the future. This would mean that EU states are obliged to accept gay partners as legal residents, like (heterosexual) married couples”

Nicolaou submitted her report to the Interior Ministry, requesting measures to stop all discrimination against gay couples. The report was based on two cases. One case involved an Iranian man in a relationship with a Cypriot man. The Iranian was denied political asylum even though he faced execution in Iran.

The Ombudswoman and two foreign NGOs asked for the case to be re-examined by the Asylum Revisory Authority, who eventually granted him asylum, deeming it too dangerous to send him back.

Nicolaou said: “Granting this man asylum was the first significant example of sensitisation towards the matter of discrimination against homosexual people and the persecution they suffer due to their sexual orientation.”

The second case involved a Canadian man in a civil marriage with a Cypriot man. The authorities have refused to grant him residency but only a visitor’s visa. As a result of this he cannot work, making life in Cyprus very difficult for him.

A 2006 poll showed that 75 per cent of Cypriots still disapprove of homosexuality, with only 14 per cent in favour of same-sex marriage and 10 per cent in favour of authorising adoption.

Cyprus grants asylum to gay Iranian

MEPs have welcomed the decision of Cyprus interior minister to grant resident status to an gay Iranian asylum seeker.

Labour's Michael Cashman, Lib Dem Baroness Ludford, Tory John Bowis and Greens Jean Lambert and Caroline Lucas were among 13 MEPs who put their name to a parliamentary question to the European Commission on the issue.

They wanted to know if the refusal of asylum to Abbas Bagherian by Cyprus on the grounds of sexual orientation was a breach of EU directives.

After Cypriot MEP Panayiotis Demetriou raised the case in discussions with the interior minister, Mr Bagherian was granted residency.

"I strongly welcome the decision to allow Mr Bagherian to remain in Cyprus," said Baroness Ludford, Liberal Democrat justice and human rights spokeswoman and an MEP for London.

"A rejection of his application and his return to Iran would have left him vulnerable to imprisonment, torture and in the worst case the death penalty, simply for being gay.

"I hope that we are starting to see a general move in EU countries to recognise the validity of asylum claims based on the risk of persecution due to sexual orientation.

"There should be a consistent EU policy, because such fears may be absolutely justified regarding a country like Iran."

According to Doros Polykarpou, the director the Cypriot immigrant support group KISA, Mr Bagherian came to Cyprus and applied for asylum in June 2004 and for the last three years he has been living with his Cypriot partner.

Mr Bagherian had an initial interview at the Asylum Service in July 2005. At the interview, he was did not reveal that the real cause of his persecution in Iran was his sexual orientation. This was because he was afraid that this information would have been leaked to the Iranian authorities and, in case of a rejection of his application, he would face imprisonment, torture or even death sentence if he was returned to Iran.

Then in April 2007, he informed the Asylum Service of his sexuality and had another interview, saying he was arrested and detained at the age of 15 because of his homosexual relations.

In addition, Mr Bagherian informed the Asylum Service that he had been arrested a further four times by the authorities in Iran and had detained and beaten up.

Source Source

Greek cypriots to deport Iranian gay asylum seeker

IRQO has received news that an Iranian queer asylum seeker is to be deported from Cyprus to Iran.

They are calling for urgent Action to support him and stop his deportation by sending letters to Member of Parliament, European Member of Parliament or directly to the Government of Cyprus.

IRQO say:

"I am very sad to write you about such a bad news but a greek cypriot newspaper "Politis" published a news as follows:

"POLITIS, Iranian person -who asked asylum from government to be a refugee
due to his trouble with Iranian government based on his sexual orientation,-
will be deported. Government announced that Iranian gay will be deported
today or tomorrow.

IRQO say that the Greek Cypriot government refused his asylum because of his sexual
orientation.

According to the newspaper, Government officials said:

"We can not open a window for them and we can not accept gay asylum seekers to come Cyprus."

To STOP his deportation you can contact:
Ms Androulla Kaminara, Head of Representation of the European Commission in
Cyprus
Tel: +357 22.81.77.70
Email: androulla.kaminara@ec.europa.eu
Adamos Adamou, Member of European Parliament,
adamos.adamou@europarl.europa.eu
Panayiotis Demetriou, Member of European Parliament,
panayiotis.demetriou@europarl.europa.eu
Ioannis Kasoulides, Member of European Parliament,
ioannis.kasoulides@europarl.europa.eu
Yiannakis Matsis, Member of European Parliament,
yiannakis.matsis@europarl.europa.eu

Please send a copy of your email to info@irqr.net to let them follow his case.