Rabat, Morocco. Moroccan nationals who studied at universities in northern Cyprus have announced plans to hold a sit-in outside the education ministry over Morocco’s continued refusal to recognise degrees issued by institutions in the island’s northern third.
A coordination committee representing affected students and graduates said it had exhausted dialogue and institutional avenues and would proceed with the protest because no fair and practical solution had been offered.
Change in recognition policy
According to Moroccan news website 24saa, Moroccan authorities had previously accepted degrees issued in northern Cyprus as equivalent to qualifications from Morocco and other countries when graduates applied for equivalence certificates.
The authorities had considered the degrees validated by Turkey’s higher education council. However, this policy changed with immediate effect in 2024, affecting Moroccans already studying in Cyprus and graduates who completed their studies in 2023 and 2024.
Government position
Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said in April that Morocco’s non-recognition of what is known as north Cyprus directly affected the equivalence of university degrees obtained from its institutions.
He said the position made it impossible for Moroccan authorities to verify the degrees’ validity or grant them legal status.
In January, responding to a question from the opposition Justice and Development Party, Bourita said meetings would be held with affected graduates, their parents and the education ministry to address all aspects of the issue.
Diplomatic concerns
Bourita said that administrative or technical interaction with the institutions could be interpreted as tacit recognition, particularly because they lack international recognition.
He added that the lack of United Nations recognition for northern Cyprus required Morocco to act cautiously in line with its diplomatic principles.
“The process of equivalating degrees may be exploited as an entry point to impose a kind of indirect recognition of this entity,” he said, adding that incentives and facilities offered to Moroccan students studying there fell within that framework.
