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Northern Cyprus votes to legalise gay sex | World news | theguardian.com
Europe's Last Sodomy Law Repealed | News OK
Northern Cyprus: Territory Repeals Europe's Last Sodomy Law | TIME.com
The court does NOT have jurisdiction over Northern Cyprus, this was purely a move by the EU pressuring Turkey to in turn put pressure on Northern Cyprus. The court and EU are not supposed to be connected and are not the same organization, but apparently one of them must do the other's bidding....
Owen Bowcott, legal affairs correspondent
theguardian.com, Monday 27 January 2014 10.08 EST
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The flag of Northern Cyprus, where gay sex will become legal when president Derviş Eroğlu endorses the law passed by MPs on Monday. Photograph: Fatih Saribas/Reuters
Northern Cyprus, the last jurisdiction in Europe where gay sex between consenting adults was illegal, has voted to remove the offence from its statute books.
Turkish Cypriot deputies passed an amendment on Monday repealing a colonial-era law that punished homosexual acts with up to five years in prison.
The change still has to be endorsed by the breakaway republic's president, Derviş Eroğlu, who is expected to support the reform.
Once enacted, the new law will mean that no states in Europe, Australasia or North America criminalise homosexuality. The contrasting trend in Africa, however, has been for new laws banning gay groups to come before local parliaments; this month Nigeria began to enforce harsh legislation against same-sex marriages.
The change of heart by MPs in Northern Cyprus has been partially influenced by neighbouring Turkey's enthusiasm for revitalising negotiations with the EU on its future membership.
Legal action against Northern Cyprus's laws criminalising homosexuality had also been launched at the European court of human rights in Strasbourg by the London-based Human Dignity Trust.
Cyprus legalised gay sex between consenting adults after a ruling by the human rights court in 1993, but the division between the island's Greek and Turkish republics meant many criminal laws inherited from the era of British colonial occupation – including the ban on homosexuality – remained in force in the North.
Jonathan Cooper, the chief executive of the Human Dignity Trust, said: "This is a historic day for gay people in Europe and a major victory for human rights, equality and the Human Dignity Trust.
"Our case before the European court required the law to be changed. Nowhere in Europe now still criminalises gay people and we are proud to say that we have played a significant role in bringing this shameful chapter in European history to an end.
"Laws against private, consenting homosexual acts between adults criminalise someone's very identity and have no place in the modern world.
"These pernicious anti-gay laws, which protect no one and cause deep distress and harm to gay and lesbian people, still exist in 82 legal jurisdictions. But that is one fewer than yesterday, and this we must celebrate."
The trust's case had been supported by the Northern Cypriot lesbian and gay organisation Queer Cyprus. The president's assent to the legal reform is expected within the next two weeks.
Europe's Last Sodomy Law Repealed | News OK
Europe's Last Sodomy Law Repealed
BuzzFeed Published: January 27, 2014
The parliament of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus voted Monday to repeal the last law in Europe criminalizing same-sex intercourse, according to BuzzFeed.com.
The bill repealing the sodomy law, passed with 28 votes in favor, one opposed, and 21 abstentions, now heads to the territory’s president, Derviş Eroğlu, but LGBT activists tell BuzzFeed they have assurances that he will not veto the legislation. The move comes partly in response to a complaint against the law filed in the European Court of Human Rights, which ruled in 1981 that sodomy laws were a breach of human rights accords in the case Dudgeon v. the United Kingdom.
Cyprus, which lies in the Mediterranean between Greece and Turkey, is a former British colony now divided into Greek and Turkish sections. Northern Cyprus is officially known as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, and its government is recognized only by Turkey, BuzzFeed.com reports.
Northern Cyprus: Territory Repeals Europe's Last Sodomy Law | TIME.com
The court does NOT have jurisdiction over Northern Cyprus, this was purely a move by the EU pressuring Turkey to in turn put pressure on Northern Cyprus. The court and EU are not supposed to be connected and are not the same organization, but apparently one of them must do the other's bidding....