Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar’s defamation lawsuit against pro-opposition newspaper Yeniduzen was on Monday adjourned until May 6.

Tatar is suing the newspaper, its then editor-in-chief Cenk Mutluyakali, and columnist Serhat Incirli for up to 5 million TL (€115,225) in damages over a series of four opinion columns Incirli had written over the summer of 2022.

The day after the case’s first court hearing, Incirli appeared on the breakfast television show he presents on channel Kanal T dressed as an imam, wearing a white robe and a white turban.

In response, the north’s religious affairs directorate announced that it may “initiate legal proceedings” against him.

“The robe and the turban, which are the symbols of our religious elders who have served on the paths of knowledge and wisdom for centuries, represent respect, knowledge and spirituality in our society. It is an unacceptable approach to belittle these symbols under the name of satire or humour,” the religious affairs directorate said.

It added, “to prevent the repetition of such acts, which have the potential to harm the peace and unity of faith in society, we respectfully inform the public that legal initiatives will be initiated with the competent authorities if deemed necessary”.

At the case’s first hearing, Tatar took the stand himself as a witness, with Yeniduzen journalist Serap Sahin writing after the hearing that Tatar had told the court the articles crossed the line of fair criticism.

Incirli’s articles had made various robust criticisms of Tatar. On one occasion, he wrote that “if one of the goals of Eoka, Eoka B, Elam, Makarios, Grivas, Sampson, Yiorkadjis, and all the Greek Cypriot institutions, organisations, and individuals which come to mind was to destroy the Turkish Cypriot community, [Tatar] has succeeded”.

Tatar and his office have thus far made no public comment on the case.