A total of 544 Turkish Cypriots, who meet the provisions of the law, are registered to vote in the parliamentary elections of May 22.

A copy of the ballot paper will be displayed at the polling stations in which the Turkish Cypriot voters will be casting their votes, along with instructions in Turkish on how to vote.

According to the 1960 Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus, the citizens of the Republic belonging to the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities are registered in separate electoral polls and vote separately to elect respectively the President and Vice President of the Republic, and each community`s MPs for the House of Representatives, which is 70% Greek Cypriots and 30% Turkish Cypriots.

Since 1964, after intercommunal unrest, the Turkish Cypriot right had not been exercised. In 2006, the Republic of Cyprus, complying with a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights in an appeal by Turkish Cypriot Ibrahim Aziz, made temporary arrangements through legislation to enable Turkish Cypriots, residing in the southern government controlled areas of the Republic, to vote and be elected.

The Electoral Service clarifies that the legislation provides the right to Turkish Cypriots, whose permanent residence is in the government controlled areas of the Republic, to vote as persons and not as members of the Turkish Cypriot community.

Thus, since 2006 the Turkish Cypriots living in the government controlled areas of the Republic are able to exercise this right in all elections of the Republic of Cyprus.