Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman was on Friday evening taken by ambulance to hospital after falling ill at an art exhibition. 

An ambulance had been called to the Quirini bastion mansion in Nicosia’s old town, where the exhibition was being held, at around 9pm, and Erhurman was taken to northern Nicosia’s Dr Burhan Nalbantoglu hospital.

Late on Friday evening, Turkish Cypriot ‘health minister’ Hakan Dincyurek explained that Erhurman had suffered a drop in blood pressure, and as such had been taken to the hospital’s cardiology department.

He described Erhurman’s condition as “good”, and said that the Turkish Cypriot leader is “undergoing further examinations” and “is being kept under observation”.

“Following the initial assessments, blood tests were performed, examinations of the aorta were conducted, and a contrast-enhanced CT scan was taken. No anomalies were detected in the aorta during these tests. As a precaution, an emergency angiography was performed, and no findings were observed,” he said.

As such, he said, “further examinations are ongoing for a definitive assessment”. He then added that further announcements regarding Erhurman’s health are expected to be made “in due course”.

The Quirini bastion mansion was the official residence of Turkish Cypriot leaders until last year, when the new official residence, in the northern sector of the Nicosia suburb of Ayios Dhometios, was opened.