A 21-year-old Syrian arrested in connection with a series of attacks on Nicosia’s Bayraktar mosque has been remanded in custody for eight days.
Media in the north reported that Turkish Cypriot religious endowment foundation Evkaf filed a complaint following the attacks.
The police on Tuesday clarified the circumstances surrounding attacks on Nicosia’s Bayraktar mosque following media reports.
Turkey’s Anadolu Agency had reported earlier in the day that two attackers armed with knives had entered the mosque on January 12, injuring one person and causing damage to the mosque, before returning a week later to do more damage to the building.
However, the police said the facts were not exactly as reported.
Instead, a spokesperson told the Cyprus Mail, the police had received a call on January 12 regarding an individual who was “threatening to harm himself” at the mosque, but found that the individual had left when they arrived.
Four days later, the spokesperson said, worshippers at the mosque called the police saying a man had entered the building and broken the door and the window of its toilet, and that he had also attacked a person inside.
When the police arrived on that occasion, they arrested a 21-year-old who is Syrian, and found that he had a knife in his possession.
He appeared in court the following day and was fined for carrying a knife and causing damage before being released.
Later that same day, worshippers once again called the police saying that the man was damaging the building. The police once again attended the scene, but found that he had fled.
They issued an arrest warrant for him, before being called for a third time on January 19, with worshippers on that occasion saying the man was harassing them. They then arrived on the scene and arrested him again.
The man was taken before Nicosia district court on Monday and was detained for eight days.
The investigation into the matter is ongoing.
Click here to change your cookie preferences