Cyprus warns Kenyans of bogus colleges

Cyprus High Commissioner to Kenya Mr. Agis Loizou. Photo/FILE

Cyprus on Wednesday warned Kenyans seeking higher education in the European country of illegal institutions marketing themselves in the region.

The Cypriot High Commissioner in Nairobi, Mr Agis Loizou, singled out Cyprus International University, saying it had not been registered or accredited by the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic of Cyprus.

“Under the law, the Turkish Cypriot universities operating in the area of Cyprus, which remains under Turkish military occupation, are unlawfully operating educational institutions,” he said in a letter sent to the Nation.

“Such higher educational institutions operate under the purported law of the so-called Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which according to international law is an illegal entity,” said Mr Loizou.

A recent advertisement in local dailies indicated that the university is located in North Cyprus, which the government maintains does not exist as a country and no direct flights from Africa are allowed to land there.

“It is not a safe and peaceful country with a rich culture since it is under Turkish military illegal occupation and nobody in the international community can guarantee a person’s safety there,” the letter read.

Mr Loizou said some of the recognised public universities in Cyprus are the University of Cyprus, Open University of Cyprus and Cyprus University of Technology.

Greek and Turkish Cypriots have been in conflict since the island’s independence from Britain in 1960, with Turkey invading and occupying the northern part in 1974.