Police confirm Turkish Cypriot lawyer’s arrest connected to property sales (update)

Police on Wednesday confirmed reports of the arrest in Rome of a Turkish Cypriot lawyer over the illegal sales of Greek Cypriot properties in the north.

Police spokesman Christos Andreou confirmed the news of the incident, initially reported on Tuesday, telling state broadcaster CyBC that police in Cyprus had received an official notice concerning the Turkish Cypriot’s arrest on the basis of a European court warrant from Italian authorities.

Police are investigating whether he did and if so how the lawyer, named as Akan Kursat, managed to fly to Italy from Larnaca airport. He has citizenship of the Republic.

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 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.

Commenting to the Cyprus Mail on the circumstances of Kursat’s arrest in Italy, the police spokesman explained it was unclear whether he had travelled from a state-controlled airport or the north.

According to the spokesman, Kursat, if he travelled from Larnaca or Paphos, could have a different name on his ID documents than the one in the EU arrest warrant, which would have made it difficult for Cypriot authorities to establish his link to the warrant.

Andreou added that he was arrested in his hotel in Rome and not at the airport.

Justice Minister Anna Procopiou told CyBC that extradition processes were underway to bring him back to Cyprus to face justice.

“Someone that is usurping our properties will be brought to justice, this is what is important,” she said.

Speaking later in the day, Government Spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said that the authorities are currently examining if Kursat left from Larnaca.

Meanwhile, according to Turkish Cypriot news outlet Avrupa, which 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.

Later in the day, it emerged that the reason for the arrest warrant against Kursat may have emerged from his law office’s connection to British con man Gary Robb, who had defrauded dozens of Britons living in the north out of over a million pounds sterling.

According to a report in Mikro-Makro in the north, Kursat’s father had requested Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar intervene and get the Turkish foreign ministry to take on the case.

Previously, Britons William George and Eleanor Barker Rene Alcock, who had bought a villa in Klepini in 2005 from the Kazafani-based company AGA Developments Ltd and Gary Robb, had filed a complaint against Talat Kursat in the courts in the north and a decision was issued on December 24, 2018.

The plaintiffs claimed that the money they had sent to the company’s and Robb’s lawyer, Talat Kursat, for the purchase of the mansion was never transferred to them, but the lawyer kept it in his personal account. On appeal, despite the plaintiffs’ strenuous insistence, the sum of £64,755 was never returned and it was concluded that the money was misappropriated by Talat Kursat or transferred to his own bank account.

The website added that the two Brits may have filed complaints to Europol on the Kursats.

British drug dealer Gary Robb started building 335 luxury villas on Greek Cypriot land in Kyrenia between 2004 and 2005 but did not finish a single one as he was sentenced to five years in prison in England for drug sales in 2009.

In 2011, a European Arrest Warrant was issued against Robb, his extradition was sought, and he was extradited to the Republic from the UK. A court in the state-controlled areas sentenced Robb to 11 months imprisonment, but after that time he was extradited back to the UK.

The British police estimate that some 400 Britons lost a total of over €40 million in deals made with AGA Development.

It is alleged that Robb received between £5,000 and £10,000 a week from the drug trade in England and then sent this money to the north.