Kyrenia Travel Forum

i will be going to girne to study from feb07.i want to know the general feeling towards blacks as am black and also i want to know whether students are allowed to visit other countries in the eu and uk since north cyprus is still a divided country and not recognized by other countries.
any fast answer will be of help as my parents want me to go to malaysia but i prefer north cyprus because of pro european way of life.

Hello,

As for racism : I don't think Cypriots are any more racisist than any of their neighbours. There's always bound to be some racist somewhere but as far as I can judge, Cypriots are fairly open minded. There are quite a few black students at the North Cypriot universities. In the South there is probably a degree of racism towards people of Indian/Sri Lanki origin.
As far as travelling to other countries : The technicalities depend on your nationality. If you have an EU-passport, you may pass the Green Line and take a plane from Larnaca to any country you chose. If you are not, then you -cannot- visit the South (there a a few exceptions for North Americans, Australians etc.). That means that you will always have to make a detour via Istanbul when travelling elsewhere. But once you leave the island, Greece is the only country that will really care about whether you have a North Cypriot stamp in your passport.
Additionally, if you need a visa for travel to Europe (depends on your nationality), you might also face the problem that not all embassies have a bureau in North Nicosia, so getting a visa for some countries might prove difficult.

George