Third man charged in Ayia Napa attack of Turkish Cypriot woman

A third man sought in connection with the attack on a 25-year-old Turkish Cypriot woman in Ayia Napa has been located by police and charged.

Police reported on Wednesday that man in question was a member of the young woman’s friend group who was seen to be taking an object resembling a club out of his car boot in CCTV and other footage scrutinised by the police.

The man was located and admitted to possession of the club and has been charged for possession of an illegal weapon, which has been confiscated as evidence, police said.

Meanwhile, the 25-year-old victim is to report to the Paralimni police station on Wednesday to file an official report.

Two Greek Cypriots, 22 and 30 years old, are in custody for the incident, during which the young woman was allegedly attacked and beaten and fell from a two-meter-high wall sustaining injuries, including two broken teeth, a broken finger, and bruises.

Any incident of violence is reprehensible President Nikos Christodoulides said on Tuesday in response to the assault, stressing that it should not be turned into an incident stemming from ethnic differences.

Asked to comment on his conversation about the incident with Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, Christodoulides said that “any incident of violence is reprehensible” and welcomed the “immediate” reaction of the police.

He also said that his phone call to Tatar was to explain “that as far as I have been informed, this is not an incident that has to do with the fact that they were Turkish Cypriots, Greek Cypriots and so on, and it should not be given such a dimension”.

He noted that, in 2003, Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktaş, had allowed a partial lifting of the restrictions with the opening of crossings, believing that in a week or two there would be such incidents between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots that would strengthen his narrative that they could not co-exist.

“He was proven completely wrong,” Christodoulides said.

Responding to another incident on Tuesday, at Ledra street crossing point, during which a Turkish national attacked Greek Cypriot police officers, and ensuing vcriticism that Tatar had not called him about it, Christodoulides said “we are a state, we are not a pseudo-state. We are an EU member state, with rule of law and [it is] good for everyone to keep that in mind.”

Earlier in the day, Asya Karali, the 25-year-old victim of the Ayian Napa attack, in a social media post said she did not want the incident to cause tension.

“I don’t want this incident to cause any tension and animosity between the two communities,” Karaali’s post read. She added that police intervened promptly and arrested the perpetrators, and she thanked all the authorities involved in the incident, both in the south and in the north.

In an earlier post the 25-year-old detailed what had happened and published a photo of her face, her broken finger and a video that appears to record the moment two men attacked and beat her.

Karaali described having gone to Ayia Napa for a night out with a friend on Friday and how she was harassed by three men while leaving.

“They cursed me and punched me in the face because I said I didn’t want them and they knew I was Turkish Cypriot from the way I spoke. I was then thrown from a wall about two metres high. I don’t remember why I passed out. Someone who saw it called an ambulance, but when I went to the hospital, they told me I had nothing,” the 25-year-old said in her post.

According to the woman’s account, she then went to the north and had her teeth fixed by her dentist, after which she went to the hospital also in the north, where she was told that her finger was broken, however, a certificate that the injury was the result of assault, could not be issued because the incident had happened in the south.

Karaali further described how police in the north told her they could also not help her and directed her to police in the south, in Nicosia.

Details of the ethnicities of those involved were not initially released by police but came to light following social media outcry.

President Nikos Christodoulides issued a statement condemning the incident on Monday, and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar asked for the bicommunal technical committee to monitor the case, state broadcaster CyBC reported.

“Incidents that negatively affect the peaceful atmosphere on the island are not acceptable,” the Turkish Cypriot leader posted on Twitter.

Tatar also stated that he will closely follow the developments surrounding the incident.

Justice Minister Anna Procopiou told CyBC that the attack was part of a larger societal problem and escalating prevalence of aggression. She added that it was important to note that police had acted swiftly and brought the suspects to justice well before any media response.

Sources on Monday initially reported that the incident began as a confrontation between two groups in the context of which the woman fell from a brick wall.

Police are continuing to investigate the exact sequence of events.