As solution nears, Moroccan students step up pressure over Northern Cyprus degree freeze

With the start of this week, Moroccan students, graduates and their parents launched an open-ended sit-in outside the Ministry of Higher Education, demanding an end to the freeze on the recognition and equivalency of degrees obtained in Northern Cyprus.

The freeze, in place since May 2024, has left nearly 3,000 students and graduates in limbo, unable to obtain equivalency for their diplomas.

Organized by the National Coordination of Parents, Students and Graduates of Northern Cyprus Universities, the sit-in will continue during the ministry's working hours until a solution is found. The action follows a series of demonstrations that have been ongoing for the past year and a half, the group's coordinator, Achraf Khettab, told Yabiladi.

A sit-in to end the deadlock

«We decided to organize a sit-in because we had repeatedly been promised that a solution was imminent», Khettab said, explaining that the aim is to «increase the pressure so the issue could finally be resolved».

According to him, every day the freeze remains in place prevents more graduates from entering the job market, while new Moroccan students continue to enroll in universities in Northern Cyprus without knowing that the equivalency process has been suspended.

A pharmacy graduate of the International Northern Cyprus University, Khettab believes the freeze stems from «political reasons». «Morocco does not recognize Northern Cyprus as a sovereign state and, according to what we have been told, recognizing degrees issued there could be interpreted as an implicit recognition of Northern Cyprus», he said.

Yet, degrees from Northern Cyprus had been recognized for years before the freeze, with Moroccan graduates successfully obtaining equivalency. «There is still an official decree published in the Official Gazette confirming this recognition», Khettab lamented.

He added that, according to sources within the Ministry of Higher Education, the suspension followed a request from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. «The freeze came after the ministry received a letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs instructing it to suspend equivalency procedures», he said.

Seeking the Royal Cabinet's help

He also revealed what he described as the latest development in the case, saying the Royal Cabinet is now involved through the Institution of the Ombudsman of the Kingdom. «We have sent a letter to the Royal Cabinet asking for help. We have received indications that a solution is being discussed, but we still do not know what form it will take», he said.

The coordination's main demand, he stressed, is that any future decision should not affect students already enrolled in Northern Cyprus or those who have already graduated.

Hoping the issue will be resolved this summer, Khettab warned that time is running out. «It is summer now, and we do not want another academic year to begin without a solution. This issue must be resolved before the new school year and before the election period begins. Every additional month means more suffering for students and their families», he said.

Despite more than a year of uncertainty, Khettab says the students are determined to continue their campaign. «There has to be a solution. The decree recognizing these degrees has never been repealed, and that is why we still have hope», he concluded.