1

'South Cyprus' is the Republic of Cyprus (RoC - the legal government of the whole island in eyes of most of the world) and the north (TRNC) is illegally occupied by Turkey. I know it may look different from a Turkish perspective, but that is why the only flights from Istanbul are to the 'occupied' north (Ercan) and why crossing into the south can then reveal you as having entered through a 'closed' (occupied/illegal) entry point. If you have an EC passport, you get your TRNC visa stamped on a piece of paper, so your passport is clean (Turkish visas are OK) and you pass freely into the south (because they have no way of knowing that you did not enter RoC legally and simply visited the north on a day/few days trip). If you have an Australiian passport .... do you already have an EC visa/entry stamped in it? Presumably we (in EC) only stamp your first entry and not every EC country you visit. If so, and provided that EC visa is valid and shows you entered somewhere ... like Greece or UK, I think you'd get away with the entry into RoC - so long as there were not TRNC stamps. I don't see why leaving should be a problem after that.

What might be a problem is if your EC visa was cancelled when you entered Turkey .... which would reveal you as entering the island of Cyprus through a port outside RoC control (and thus illegal) in which case Athens or Thesaloniki is your answer.

Hope that made sense

Cheers

2

Hi There! I am having similar problems and I have asked a few people who all have a different view. I am a Canadian living in the UK with EU passport. I have flown to Larnaca and I am in Larnaca for the next week. I was hoping to visit a friend of mine in Istambul so I bought a single ticket out of Ercan airport. I was going to cross the border at Nicohsia and take a taxi to Ercan to catch my flight to Istambul, stay a few days then book a flight direct to Gatwick.

I my Greek Cypriot friends say I will be at great risk crossing the boarder as well as going in a taxi to Ercan airport (30km). They say if my passport gets stamped I will never be able to come back to South Cyprus?? My challenge is now that the cost of a one way out of Larnaca is close to £500! Not sure what to do now...

Alex

Edited by: xanderlax

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Dear Friends,

There are no problems with entering or exiting from the north Cyprus as you will be given a white paper saying "visa" on it that you will need to fill out. This paper will be the only thing that will get stamped during your trip to Istanbul and back . I had both Greek cypriot and British friends who has travelled to Istanbul and back from Ercan. When it comes to taxis the risk is as much as any taxi that you can get from anywhere else in the world that you have never been.

From my own experiences, I can honestly say you have nothing to worry about ! However if you are still in doubt find somewhere that can give you NON-BIASED information !

4

Xanderlax - if you are traveling on an EU passport, then you have the right to come and go from either side of CY without problems. EU rules guarantee this free passage. The issue is for no EU passport holders for whom there are no such guarantees.

Stop thinking of yourself as Canadian; if you hold an EU passport, then you are an EU citizen.

Ruth