18 August 2015 - The Philippine Embassy in Ankara, in response to the request of the Filipino Community in North Cyprus headed by its President, Mr. Wig William Gorubat, processed Overseas Voters (OV) registration applications and rendered consular services to Filipinos in North Cyprus from August 09 to 10.

The team was authorized by the Department of Foreign Affairs to come to North Cyprus based on humanitarian grounds and to provide consular assistance to the Filipinos in the area, despite the fact that North Cyprus is not under the Embassy's consular jurisdiction.

A total of 105 OV registration applications, 75 e-passports applications, 40 passport extensions, 10 acknowledgments of documents, nine consular records and two notarial services were facilitated during the 2-day mobile mission held at the Altinkaya Hotel in Girne, North Cyprus.

The Embassy’s Assistance-to-Nationals (ATN) officer also conducted consultations with members of the Filipino community, and discussed the ongoing operation of some unscrupulous individuals engaged in trafficking of Filipino workers from North Cyprus to Turkey. Most of the recent victims were trafficked via North Cyprus and Hong Kong. They were all advised to go through the legal process (i.e., with proper work permits issued by the Turkish government, with contracts duly authenticated or acknowledged by the Embassy) if they wished to pursue employment opportunities work in Turkey.

The team also joined the Filipino community during their volleyball tournament on August 09, registering additional OV applicants that day. Filipino Community President Mr. Wig William Gorubat, on behalf of the Filipinos in North Cyprus, expressed appreciation for the consular mission. END