It is “not possible to talk about a healthy dialogue” between Cyprus’ two sides amid the arrests being made by the Republic of Cyprus of people accused of selling Greek Cypriot-owned property in the north, Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar said on Thursday.

Speaking after a meeting with United Nations envoy Maria Angela Holguin, he once again criticised the arrests, describing them as “a policy of political pressure and intimidation targeting our people through real estate on the part of the Greek Cypriot leadership”.

“This attitude to the Turkish Cypriot people’s legitimate rights has nothing to do with the law,” he added.

“People who make investments or buy or sell property within the borders of the TRNC are being portrayed as criminals for political reasons, and in this way, an atmosphere of fear is being created.

“This is a dangerous approach, which targets not only the rights of individuals but also the trust between the two peoples and the possibility of future reconciliation. So long as this attitude continues, it is not possible to talk about a healthy dialogue,” he said.

He added that showing respect for this mentality meant normalising such activities and damaging the ‘new atmosphere’, of which UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had spoken at the enlarged meeting on the Cyprus problem in March.

As such, he said, “the period of tolerating this hostile policy, which targets the freedom, prosperity, and peace of our people, is over.”

He then added that his reasons for rejecting the idea of a tripartite meeting involving himself, President Nikos Christodoulides, and Holguin on Monday were “very clear and principled”.

“So long as the Greek Cypriot leader continues to attack us, he will receive a similar response. I never give credence to threats and blackmail,” he said.

He added that he had raised the issue of property arrests at the enlarged meeting in Geneva and at meetings with Christodoulides and UN special representative Colin Stewart and said that he “appreciates [Guterres’] interest in the Cyprus issue and his constructive approach to cooperation between the sides”, while also thanking Holguin for her work.

He added that Christodoulides’ “policy of increasing tensions serves not dialogue, but deadlock”, before also offering criticism for the Turkish Cypriot opposition.

Holguin also spoke after the meeting, but said very little, only describing it as “very good” before going on to speak about previous meetings she had had with bicommunal technical committees and her hope that “we can have some good results for July”, when the next enlarged meeting on the Cyprus problem is set to be held.

She also confirmed that she will meet Christodoulides on Friday.

Christodoulides had said on Tuesday that the ongoing arrests over the alleged illegal development and sale of Greek Cypriot-owned property in the north “will certainly not stop, no matter what Tatar says”.

“Beyond that, what I hold is the fact that he is refusing to meet. He who refuses to meet is the one who is in a weak position,” Christodoulides said.

“It is nothing new. The issue was also raised by Tatar in Geneva. Firstly, illegality cannot be justified in any way. Secondly, I repeat, I told Tatar, I told [Guterres], who himself knows because he was once the prime minister of Portugal, I told the president [Isaac Herzog] and prime minister [Benjamin Netanyahu] of Israel: we do not interfere in the judiciary,” he said.

The reference to Israeli officials come after disquiet in some quarters in Israel over the arrest of Israeli property developer Simon Mistriel Aykut, who stands accused of having developed and sold €43 million worth of property on Greek Cypriot land in the north, with protests against his arrest having taken place in Israel during Christodoulides’ visit to the country.

“Those who commit crimes are prosecuted. It does not matter what statements Tatar makes or how many statements he makes, or anything like that,” Christodoulides added.

The number of cases regarding the development of Greek Cypriot property in the north is on the rise, with two Hungarian nationals having become the first to be sentenced to prison over the matter.

They had admitted to promoting and advertising the sale of houses near Kyrenia on the internet.

Meanwhile, the case of a German national who reportedly spoke about selling property in the north to an off-duty police officer during a flight to Larnaca is ongoing, and arrest warrants have been issued for four Turkish nationals in connection with developments in the Famagusta district village of Lefkoniko.