High-profile figures within the Turkish Cypriot community on Monday issued statements remembering the life of businessman Asil Nadir, who died on Sunday night at the age of 83.

Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, who was once an employee of Nadir’s at Polly Peck, issued a short statement.

“I have learned with great sadness about the passing of Asil Nadir, a great businessman who left his mark on our country and on the Republic of Turkey with significant investments and economic success. His services will always be remembered and will not be forgotten,” he said.

Meanwhile, the north’s ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel said he was “deeply saddened” by Nadir’s passing.

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He also said Nadir “achieved great success in the business world with his vision, entrepreneurship, and courage” and was “a valuable businessman who left an important mark not only on our country but also in the international arena, inspiring many people with his hard work and determination”.

‘Foreign minister’ Tahsin Ertugruloglu also issued a short statement, describing Nadir as “legendary”.

Prominent Turkish Cypriot journalist Cenk Mutluyakali, now of newspaper Yeni Duzen but, like many Turkish Cypriot journalists, a former employee of Nadir’s former title Kibris, also issued a statement.

“I had the opportunity to work closely with Asil Nadir in the early years of my career, during the excitement of my youth. He made his mark during the north of Cyprus’ transition to professional journalism, and made a big investment,” he began.

He added, “he always had big dreams, he was ambitious, romantic, innovative, he left his mark on a period in time, and he changed and enriched the lives of many people”.

“He was in love with Cyprus, he invested in this country during the days when it shook the world … He will be remembered as a man of important value in the history of the Turkish Cypriots, both for better and for worse. I wish he had written about his life. If only he had told it himself, his rights, his wrongs, and his experiences,” he said.

Seldom a man to let others have the last word, Nadir also issued a statement of his own posthumously through his wife Nur Nadir’s Instagram account.

“My dear Cypriot brothers, I wanted to support you in your struggle for an honourable life and to develop you as much as my life and strength allowed. My father Irfan Nadir served the Cypriots until his last breath as a lover of Cyprus for as long as I can remember. As the son of such a man, I took on this heartache and the cause he had,” he began.

He added, “I sacrificed my life, my labour, and all my possibilities for the honourable struggle and cause of all Cypriots”, before saying, “there were always traitors among us, but despite everything I never gave up – please do not give up either”.

“My dear brothers, as a Cypriot who was born in and died in these lands, my will to you is to protect these lands, despite everything. Those who have been around me throughout my life but did not support my fight to live honourably and pass the human test, do not be present on my last journey. Death is a right. At least let them take a break from this theatre,” he said.

He added that he had “left my will” regarding October’s forthcoming Turkish Cypriot leadership election to his wife, before signing off.

“These lands are ours. Protect them in unity. Until we meet with all beautiful hearts in a more beautiful world, entrust yourself to each other.”

Nadir had risen to prominence in the United Kingdom when he transformed textile company Polly Peck into a multi-million-pound company during the 1980s before it became mired in scandal and ultimately ended in a jail sentence. He also owned a powerful media empire in the north until 2022.

In the UK, he was found guilty of ten counts of theft of nearly £29m from Polly Peck in August 2012 and was sentenced to ten years in prison.

Having served four of those years, he was transferred to Turkey as part of a prisoner transfer agreement between Turkey and the UK in April 2016. He then spent a single night in a Turkish prison, before returning to Cyprus, where he lived out the rest of his life.

His funeral will take place on Tuesday at the building which housed the Kibris media group during his ownership, before a religious ceremony will take place at the Suat Gunsel mosque, Cyprus’ largest, at northern Nicosia’s Near East University.

He will be buried at northern Nicosia’s cemetery.