Turkish Opposition Seeks to Revoke CBI Citizenships, of Which They Claim There Are “At Least Half a Million”

Turkey’s nationalist opposition İYİ (Good) Party has filed lawsuits to revoke citizenships granted through the country’s Citizenship by Investment Program (CIP), potentially affecting tens of thousands of new Turkish citizens.

İYİ Party leader Müsavat Dervişoğlu announced the party’s legal action at the Ankara Administrative Court and the Council of State, Turkey’s highest administrative court.

Dervişoğlu warns that Turkey faces “a demographic occupation by the government,” as both the Turkish national identity and the Republic of Turkey face an “existential threat.”

Dervişoğlu claims the program has enabled “at least 500,000 people” to gain Turkish citizenship over the past seven years. He says that foreigners purchased 309,000 houses during that period and asserts that statistics suggest “at least half of these house sales were in exchange for citizenship.”

The İYİ Party leader contends the program violates Turkish law and is "unconstitutional." He cites Article 12 of the Turkish Citizenship Law No. 5901, which outlines conditions for exceptional citizenship grants.

According to Dervişoğlu, the principle of "limited number" means "granting citizenship in exchange for foreign currency" falls outside these conditions.

The party argues that the government implemented the program through a presidential decree, contradicting the Turkish constitution.

Dervişoğlu emphasizes that the law must regulate citizenship conditions, asserting that "no regulation can be above the law."

The party has requested to intervene in a related lawsuit (file number 2022/3885) that the Union of Turkish Bar Associations filed at the 10th Chamber of the Council of State, challenging amendments to the Turkish Citizenship Law's implementation regulations.

The İYİ also aims to strip Syrian refugees of their Turkish citizenship.

Dervişoğlu claims the government has granted Turkish citizenship to 238,000 individuals in violation of existing laws. The İYİ Party aims to cancel all these citizenships, which they believe the Justice and Development Party granted unlawfully.

Dervişoğlu expresses confidence in their legal standing, describing their lawsuits as "extremely justified" and "based on concrete evidence."

Dervişoğlu emphasizes that "nobody should forget that Türkiye is not a coupon land or Turkish citizenship a giveaway," adding that his party "will never allow Turkey to become a refugee camp."

Ahmet Şener, Managing Partner of Smart Citizenship, says it is premature to determine whether this is a real threat to CIP investors. He points out that the "İYİ is threatening to sue to revoke all new citizenships, but it has only provided a case number for its lawsuit against Syrian refugee citizenships." He says that there is "no way of proving the CIP ones are in danger until we can access the relevant court files."

Aran Hawker, Managing Partner of CIP Turkey, agrees with Şener's assessment. He says that "this will never affect approved CBI applicants. There is a universal law when it comes to citizenship, and based on that, I don't think this is a serious lawsuit, but it is more of a political tool to leverage support."

Hawker explains that the İYİ "lost some of their power after the election, and now they are just trying to create a bit of political headway by leveraging the CIP." He adds that this "is more about the Syrian refugees; they just added the CBI to sound more neutral."