Unficyp provides assistance to arrested Greek Cypriots, govt furious over arrests

The United Nations peacekeeping force in Cyprus (Unficyp) is providing humanitarian assistance to the five Greek Cypriots who remain in custody after having been arrested in the north on suspicion of espionage last month, its spokesman Aleem Siddique said on Friday.

Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency, he said Unficyp is “aware” of the situation and is providing assistance, “as requested by the arrestees”.

The government, meanwhile, is furious over the situation, with presidential press office director Victor Papadopoulos having said on Thursday night that the government “condemns” the incident “in the strongest possible terms”.

He described the arrest of the five as an “abduction” and an “illegal detention”, and said the government “expresses outrage at the situation as it unfolds with the farcical ‘trials’”.

“The abduction and the decision to continue the illegal detention of two of the five abductees, as well as the referral to a so-called military court, are provocative and unacceptable acts which violate every principle of international law and fundamental human rights and freedoms,” he said.

He then said the arrests were “piracy” and that they were “a premeditated act”.

“The authorities of the Republic of Cyprus … have made and continue to make every possible effort for their release,” he said, adding that the government has also made “complaints and representations” to Unficyp, to the UN’s headquarters in New York, to the European Union, and to UN security council member states.

In addition, he pointed out the fact that two of the arrested five had submitted applications to the Immovable Property Commission regarding properties in the north they had owned before 1974.

Their arrest, he said, “proves that Turkey not only has no intention of complying with the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, but, on the contrary, has chosen to imprison lawful property owners who were merely visiting the occupied territories to see their property up close”.

“At the same time, the provocatively illegal and pirate-like behaviour of the occupying regime undermines efforts made by the UN secretary-general [Antonio Guterres] to resume talks and find a solution to the Cyprus problem,” he said.

“The intimidation and abductions of Greek Cypriots travelling to the areas of the Republic of Cyprus occupied by the Turkish army are far removed from [Guterres’] call for the creation of a climate of trust between the two communities and, on the contrary, produce exactly the opposite result.”

On Friday morning, the north’s ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel made a statement of his own defending the arrests and attacking Papadopoulos’ statement.

“The Greek Cypriot leadership’s characterisation of entirely legal and legitimate judicial proceedings conducted within the sovereignty of the TRNC as a ‘planned and provocative action’ is frivolous and comprises nothing more than political manipulation,” he said.

He added that the five were “brought to justice for violating the law within the borders of the TRNC, within the framework of the principles of the rule of law” and said that “no one’s ethnic origin or political affiliation is above the law”.

“Just as the Greek Cypriot administration recognises and implements its own legal systems and courts, the TRNC also has a recognised, functioning legal system and independent judicial bodies. This reality cannot be arbitrarily ignored,” he said.

“The TRNC will continue to take all necessarily legal steps to ensure law and public order within its territory and will not yield to any external pressure or propaganda campaigns. The international community is also obliged to investigate the unilateral and provocative statements made by the Greek Cypriot side.”