Newsroom
The fallout from Cyprus' increasingly heated property dispute isn't going away.
After sparking criticism with comments he made following Wednesday's UN talks, Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman has returned to the debate, insisting he does not believe anyone should have to live in fear of being arrested because of the island's unresolved property issue.
In a lengthy social media post on Thursday night, Erhürman said his earlier remarks had been interpreted without considering everything he had said.
Describing himself as "a lawyer and a human being," he stressed that he does not look at the property issue solely through the suffering of Turkish Cypriots, but neither, he said, should it be viewed only through the suffering of Greek Cypriots.
His comments come as the Republic of Cyprus continues to pursue criminal investigations into transactions involving Greek Cypriot properties in the occupied north, a move that has put property owners, developers, and foreign investors under increasing scrutiny.
Erhürman argued that arrest warrants and police summons are not helping to rebuild trust between the island's two communities.
"I don't want, seek or believe it is right for anyone, whether from the north or the south, to be arrested, called in for questioning, or live with the fear of arrest because of the unresolved property issue," he said.
He also rejected the idea that individuals caught up in these legal cases should be portrayed as the cause of Cyprus' decades-old political conflict.
Instead, he said, the real problem remains the absence of a comprehensive settlement to the Cyprus issue.
His clarification came after critics accused him of drawing a false equivalence between the way Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot properties are managed on either side of the divide.
Among the sharpest critics was Turkish Cypriot newspaper Avrupa, which argued that the legal realities are fundamentally different. The paper noted that Turkish Cypriot properties in the Republic are subject to rights of use rather than ownership transfers, while ownership titles issued in the occupied north over many Greek Cypriot properties remain internationally disputed.
The newspaper also argued that prosecutions so far have primarily targeted third-country nationals involved in disputed property transactions rather than Turkish Cypriots themselves.
As legal action over disputed properties continues to make headlines, the issue is once again proving to be one of the most politically sensitive obstacles to rebuilding trust between the island's two sides.
