Police confirm Turkish Cypriot lawyer’s arrest connected to property sales
Police on Wednesday confirmed reports on the arrest in Rome of a Turkish Cypriot lawyer linked to illegal sales of Greek Cypriot properties in the north.
Police spokesman Christos Andreou confirmed the news of the incident which broke on Tuesday, telling state broadcaster CyBC that police in Cyprus had received the official notice, concerning the Turkish Cypriot’s arrest on the basis of a European court warrant, from Italian authorities.
Police are investigating whether and how the lawyer in question, named as Akan Kursat, managed to fly to Italy from Larnaca airport.
According to reports in Turkish Cypriot media, Kursat, who is married to the north’s ‘deputy parliament speaker’ Fazilet Ozdenefe was likely arrested for exploiting Greek Cypriot properties based also on an arrest warrant issued by the Republic of Cyprus against him in 2007.
It is believed that Kursat has already appeared before an Italian court and been remanded in custody, pending his trial for the case, according to the same report, which is the reason his wife also remains stuck in Italy.
While the circumstances surrounding his arrest are still unclear, it is noted that previous European arrest warrants were issued against both him and his father, Talat Kursat, for cases occurring during 2004-2005, of sales of Greek Cypriot properties, which were possibly later retracted.
Akan Kursat and his father run an established law firm in the north and are known to have represented an as yet-unnamed company responsible for tourist development of Greek Cypriot properties. It is not yet confirmed whether they are also implicated in the large-scale property sales in Trikomo.
The pair attempted to sell houses to foreigners who, after having paid a deposit, realised the properties were illegally on the market and belong to the Republic of Cyprus.
The investors seem to have subsequently sought recourse against the Kursats via the Republic, alleging extortion of funds through misrepresentation.
According to the reports, Akan Kursat who holds citizenship from the Republic, was nonetheless thereafter able to fly freely out of Larnaca airport to Italy.
The question remains as to why he was not arrested at Larnaca airport with indications being that a different identity document is tied to his European arrest warrant. It is not the first time Kursat has travelled out of the Republic’s airport.
Another possibility is that the Italian authorities simply failed to remove Kursat’s name from their stop list, although police in Cyprus have confirmed he was not arrested at Rome’s airport but in another location in the city.
Meanwhile, according to Turkish Cypriot news outlet Avrupa who broke the story on Tuesday, Turkish Cypriot Leader Ersin Tatar who had said he was closely following the case, has called on the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs to secure assistance for the couple over the matter.