(2) what representations his Department has made to the Council of Europe in respect of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus's application for recognition of its six universities under the Council of Europe's Bologna process;
(3) what representations he has received on the financial implications for the Turkish-Cypriot universities of their continued non-membership of the Bologna process.
The Government's assessment, which is generally shared by other countries in the Bologna Process, is that the application in question, along with those being considered from Israel, Kosovo and the Kyrgyz Republic, does not meet the criteria for membership of the Process. This is because those criteria require member countries to have ratified the European Cultural Convention. The final decision on this issue will be taken when Ministers meet at the Bologna Process Ministerial Conference in May. The Bologna Process is not a Council of Europe initiative but an independent intergovernmental agreement. The Government have not therefore made any representations to the Council of Europe on this matter. My officials have received representations from Professor Tahir Celik, chair of the Higher Education Board in the ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’, concerning his assessment of the potential economic impact of non-membership on universities in the ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’.