The north’s ‘transport minister’ Erhan Arikli has lashed out at the Republic over efforts to maintain an arrest warrant against him in connection with the 1996 killing of Tassos Isaac.

According to Turkish Cypriot journalist Sefa Karahasan of TRT, Arikli responded to reports in Greek Cypriot media regarding a fresh warrant over the killing.

“A dog whose death is near urinates in the mosque courtyard,” he said.

The expression is a derogatory Turkish proverb used to describe a person who, believing they have little left to lose, behaves provocatively or without restraint.

Arikli is among those wanted in connection with Isaac’s murder and has previously been detained abroad under an Interpol alert.

He was arrested in Kyrgyzstan in 2012 but was released after Turkey intervened, with Cyprus’ request for his extradition unsuccessful.

Isaac, 24, was beaten to death in August 1996 after becoming trapped in barbed wire in the UN buffer zone at Dherynia during an anti-occupation demonstration.

Three days later, 26-year-old Solomos Solomou was shot dead after climbing a flagpole at a Turkish military position in an attempt to remove a Turkish flag.

Eight arrest warrants were issued in connection with Isaac’s murder, with the original warrants cancelled in 2013 on procedural grounds and replaced with new warrants issued by the Famagusta district court.

Five warrants were also issued over Solomou’s killing, although Interpol red notices were obtained for only two suspects.

Police said the remaining requests were rejected because investigators had not provided sufficient evidence.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2008 that Turkey was responsible under international law for violations of the right to life arising from the killings.

The ruling did not, however, remove the individual criminal responsibility of those allegedly involved.

Arikli later travelled unhindered to Tunisia in 2017 without being detained.