EU Aid Programme for the Turkish Cypriot community

The European Union Scholarship Programme for the Turkish Cypriot community for academic years 2023-2025                  

The European Commission and the Goethe-Institut e.V. signed today an agreement with a budget of €5 million to implement the EU Scholarship Programme for the Turkish Cypriot community funded under the Aid Programme, which aims to facilitate the reunification of Cyprus. 

The agreement with the Goethe-Institut reinforces the Commission’s commitment to bring Turkish Cypriots of different ages and backgrounds closer to the EU, through the life-changing experience of mobility, while facilitating contacts with other EU citizens. Building on the successful implementation of the previous actions, the programme will seek to provide even more opportunities to Turkish Cypriots’ personal, social and professional development beyond their scholarship, in an effort to contribute to the overall goal of the reunification of the island.

Launched in 2007, the EU’s flagship programme supported approximately 2000 Turkish Cypriot students, graduates and professionals to study and gain experience in more than 24 EU countries selected by the scholars. Within this framework, the EU invested over €33 million in undergraduate, postgraduate and short-term programmes, including research, training, internships, language courses and postdoctoral studies. 

The British Council has been delivering the EU Scholarship Programme since 2014 and is going to hand over the administration of the programme in the aftermath of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union. During a transition period of two years, the British Council will complete the actions for the ongoing calls for the academic years 2021/23, while the Goethe-Institut will take over the implementation of the programme with the launch of a call for proposals in October 2022, for the academic year 2023/24.