Ibrahim Aziz (born 1938Aziz v. Cyprus , European Court of Human Rights, Netherlands Institute of Human Rights, Retrieved 2011-05-17.) is a
Turkish Cypriot
Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks ( or ; ) are so called ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Turkish Cypriots are mainly Sunni Muslims. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,000 Turkish settlers were given land onc ...
political analyst based in
Nicosia
Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia and Lefkoşa, is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capital cities.
Nicosia has been continuously inhabited for over 5,500 years and has been the capi ...
,
Republic of Cyprus
Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the third lar ...
. Aziz was the president of the New Cyprus Association in 1998.They stayed behind, but they cannot vote Cyprus Mail, Retrieved 2011-05-17. He is a former member of
AKEL
The Progressive Party of Working People (, , ΑΚΕΛ or AKEL; ) is a Marxist–LeninistHelena Smith, Cyprus gets ready for a communist 'takeover''The Guardian 2008 communist party in Cyprus.
AKEL is one of the two major parties in Cyprus, and ...
.Kürkçügil, Masis. ''Kıbrıs Dün ve Bugün'' p.211 /ref>
Although a citizen of the Republic of Cyprus residing in the government-controlled area, he was not allowed to vote for forty years because he was a Turkish Cypriot. In 2004, he applied to the
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...
, which ruled:
Consequently, the applicant, as a member of the Turkish–Cypriot community living in the Government-controlled area of Cyprus, was completely deprived of any opportunity to express his opinion in the choice of the members of the house of representatives of the country of which he was a national and where he had always lived. Considering that the very essence of the applicant's right to vote, as guaranteed by Article 3 of Protocol No. 1, had been denied, the Court held, unanimously, that there had been a violation of Article 3 of Protocol No. 1.
Following this case, Turkish Cypriots residing in the Republic of Cyprus were granted the right to vote.Turkish Cypriots - Parliamentary Elections Cyprus News Agency, Retrieved 2011-05-17. However, Turkish Cypriots are still unable to run in presidential elections, and those residing in
Northern Cyprus
Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the Geography of Cyprus, island of Cyprus. It is List of states with limited recognition, recognis ...