The recent arrests made by the Republic of Cyprus of people accused of selling Greek Cypriot-owned property in the north are a “lifebuoy” for Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar’s prospects of re-election, former Turkish Cypriot chief negotiator for the Cyprus problem Kudret Ozersay said on Tuesday.

Speaking to Kibris Postasi TV, Ozersay, who also served as the north’s ‘foreign minister’ during Tatar’s stint as ‘prime minister’ between 2019 and 2020 said that it is “highly probable” that the Turkish Cypriot side will “develop a common stance on the property issue” in the near future.

He said this is a “late step”, especially “at a time when the whole world is talking about the war” in the Middle East.

Later, Ozersay spoke on the matter of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)’s ruling that Turkey’s government must pay a total of €18,000 in “non-pecuniary damage” – the name given to compensation for losses which are not easily quantifiable – and costs and expenses to a Greek Cypriot owner of property in the north.

He pointed out that the damages were awarded due to delays in the Immovable Property Commission (IPC)’s handling of the case, and as such called for the IPC’s processes to be sped up so as to avoid future such cases.

“An independent fund should be established to accelerate compensation payments,” he said, while also claiming that the current fund, which is managed by the north’s ‘finance ministry’, is at present in part being used to pay civil servants’ salaries.

Government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis had earlier insisted the arrests are not political, telling journalists that “the Republic of Cyprus is acting within the framework of the rule of law, and the arrests for the usurpation of property concern the protection of basic human rights”.

Then asked whether it would be better for there to be a moratorium on such prosecutions so that they do not “come at the expense of talks on the Cyprus issue”, he said that “impunity for violations of property or human rights cannot be a condition, inside or outside of quotation marks, for talks or for an alleged indication of goodwill”.

However, many Turkish Cypriots are unconvinced by this assertion, with Turkish Cypriot opposition political party the CTP’s foreign relations secretary Fikri Toros having told the Cyprus Mail that Turkish Cypriots have been rendered “anxious, intimidated, and threatened” by the arrests.

Two Hungarian nationals were handed prison sentences over the matter last month, with the pair having admitted to promoting and advertising the sale of houses near Kyrenia on the internet.

They were the first to be convicted over the matter.

Meanwhile, the case regarding Simon Aykut is ongoing, as is the case of a German national who reportedly spoke about selling property in the north to Elam MEP Geadis Geadi during a flight to Larnaca.

The next Turkish Cypriot leadership election is set to take place on October 12.