The Greek Cypriot leadership continues efforts to instrumentalise the law for political purposes in matters relating to property, Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman said on Saturday.

“The property issue is not only a problem for Greek Cypriots, but also for Turkish Cypriots – and the solution is through sincerity,” he said.

Erhurman said that the issue was “impossible to resolve” through lawsuits brought by Greek Cypriots against Turkish Cypriots or vice versa, stressing that it formed part of a wider political problem clearly reflected in the scope of negotiations.

He reiterated Turkish Cypriot commitment to a comprehensive settlement, saying that the Turkish Cypriot side had established the Immovable Property Commission, making available the remedies of restitution, exchange and compensation during the period until a comprehensive settlement is reached.

Attempts to use the law as a political instrument to build political positions or create domestic political “success stories” through the hardship experienced by individuals could not be tolerated, Erhurman said.

“If there is genuine sincerity, efforts should instead be focused on achieving a comprehensive settlement, which would also bring about a resolution of the property issue,” he said.

Erhurman stressed that the losses were not solely those of Greek Cypriots, noting that the north had “never endorsed approaches that target individuals and use the law as an instrument of politics by making them bear the burden of the Cyprus problem.”

“At the same time, no one should assume that we have no means of responding in these matters, nor should anyone fall into the mistaken belief that we will accept positions advanced on the basis of such assumptions,” he said.

He underlined that the north would continue to support the efforts of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and advance its “wide-ranging preparations” regarding the property issue until a settlement has been reached.

Erhurman was referring to several cases of the illegal sale of Greek Cypriot property in the north by real estate agents such as Simon Aykut, an Israeli land developer who has been sentenced to five years in prison for several charges including the possession of stolen land, money laundering and conspiracy to commit a crime in 2025.