Speaker of the Parliament in the Greek Cypriot Administration Dimitris Şilluris whose name was involved in scandals regarding the “citizenship for investment”, also known as “golden passports”, has resigned.
According to the Greek Cypriot press, Şilluris announced that he resigned due to increased public pressure following the public reflection of the video taken by reporters who were disguised as investor intermediaries with a hidden camera.
Greek Cypriot Council of Ministers, during its extraordinary meeting held on Tuesday 13th October, 2020 cancelled the program which includes the criteria of granting citizenship to foreign investors in return for money. It was noted that the decision was taken after the images were published by Al Jazeera and will come into effect as of 1st November.
According to the news of Al Jazeera, more than 1400 passports were approved between 2017- 2019. Many official documents obtained by Al Jazeera revealed that convicted fraudsters from more than 70 countries, money launderers and politicians accused of corruption, received a citizenship certificate called “golden passports” from the Greek Cypriot Administration. It was noted that between these dates, the majority of applications for golden passports were made from Russia, China and Ukraine.
Source : TRNC Public Information Office
