A woman of Cypriot origin living in Greece was surprised to see her place of birth, Trikomo, in the north had been changed to the Turkish ‘Iskele’ on her renewed identity card, issued by the Hellenic Police.

When she protested, the Greek authorities cited a European database for place names in English and refused to make the changes she requested.

The incident was followed by complaints involving Disy MP Nikos Georgiou, and by extension Greek ambassador in Nicosia Konstantinos Kollias and Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou.

Georgiou reported the issue to the interior minister in a letter on Wednesday, calling for the minister’s “urgent intervention”.

Georgiou urged for the “unacceptable” practice to be terminated, pointing out that it distorted legitimate personal data and adopted the terminology of the occupying regime.

The MP said in his letter that the woman was born in Cyprus and had been living in Greece for over 50 years.

On renewing her identity card, she found that “her place of birth presented the Turkish name ‘Iskele’ instead of the the official and internationally recognised place name ‘Trikomo’ of the Republic of Cyprus”, Georgiou explained.

“This is a development with serious implications, both for the preservation of the historical truth and for the safety of official procedures for the identification of our citizens,” he added.

Georgiou urged the minister to secure the correction of the geographical reference and restore ‘Trikomo’ in all fields of the specific European platform, to make representations against this “unacceptable and nationally dangerous practice”, to request explanations and to demand the broader reevaluation of the vocabulary used concerning the Republic of Cyprus in order to avoid similar incidents in the future.

The MP confirmed to Politis that he had received a second complaint, again regarding Trikomo.

He added that he would request a meeting with the Greek ambassador in Nicosia Konstantinos Kollias to hand over evidence.

Kollias told Politis that “it is definitely a mistake”.

He also requested further information about the failure of the Hellenic Police to respond to the woman’s plea for the correction of her details.