Turkish Cypriot left-wing activist Munur Rahvancioglu on Wednesday announced that he will appeal his denial of entry to Turkey at the country’s constitutional court.

Rahvancioglu is one of around 15 people who appear on Turkey’s N-82 or G-82 lists. Having one’s name on the former means that one must apply in advance to the Turkish embassy in their country for pre-clearance to enter the country, while being on the G-82 list entails an outright ban from entering Turkey.

Neither list is publicly available, and as such, those on it generally do not find out until they arrive in Turkey.

Rahvancioglu had initially sued at Ankara’s first administrative court, but his case was rejected. The court had requested that Turkey’s migration management directorate issue a document explaining the reasons behind Rahvancioglu’s placement on the N-82 list.

However, the migration management directorate said it “did not have any documents” on the matter and that his name had been added to the list after a letter had been sent by Turkey’s national intelligence organisation (Mit).

As such, the court requested that Mit disclose the reasons behind Rahvancioglu’s adding to the N-82 list, but Mit informed the court that such information is classified.

Rahvancioglu’s lawyers had argued that he had a clean criminal record, and that “the claim that he was among people who posed a danger to national security was an abstract claim”.

The court did not overturn Mit’s ruling, however, saying his name had been added to the N-82 list “within the scope of sovereign authority and also taking into account reports issued by state security units in the context of preventing participation in terrorist activities, preventing travel to conflict zones, and protecting the country’s security”.

“There was no unlawfulness during the process in question,” the court said.

Earlier this year, the north’s ‘foreign minister’ Dursun Oguz had said he had “requested information” from Turkey regarding the placement of Turkish Cypriots on the N-82 and G-82 lists.

“We have asked if, as has been stated, there is a list, and what are the reasons for people finding themselves on such a list,” he said.

“It is not right for people to not know whether they will be allowed in when they arrive at the gate. The necessary explanation will be made,” he said, adding that “justifications” have been requested from Turkey.

However, ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel said Turkey is “under no obligation to respond” to the north’s authorities over the matter of Cypriots being refused entry into Turkey.

He refuted claims that his ‘government’ had been “insensitive” to the matter but said “it is an internal issue of another country”, before producing a letter penned to the Turkish embassy in Nicosia on the matter, which had been sent last year.