Former Turkish Cypriot ‘prime minister’ arrested in fake prescriptions scandal

Former Turkish Cypriot ‘prime minister’ Sibel Siber was arrested on Thursday as part of the ongoing investigation into the “fake prescription scandal”.

Siber, a qualified doctor, was arrested alongside a pharmacist, and is expected to be brought before the northern Nicosia district court on Friday to be charged.

She is one of dozens of doctors and pharmacists who have been arrested in relation to the scandal, while police have also found numerous bin bags across the north full of prescription medications with their barcodes scrubbed off.

Arrests relating to the scandal have become a daily occurrence in the north in recent weeks, with Siber being the most high-profile figure arrested thus far.

She served as the north’s first female ‘prime minister’ between June and September 2013, before spending just over four years as ‘parliament speaker’ between 2013 and 2018.

In 2015, she became the first woman to run for Turkish Cypriot leader, winning the nomination of political party CTP, finishing in third place and winning 23 per cent of the vote.