A TRNC citizen was arrested by the officials of British Sovereign Base Areas (SBA) Administration on 29 November 2021 for allegedly engaging in an illegal activity in the village of Pile which is located in the buffer zone. We strongly condemn the handing over of our citizen by the SBA Administration to the Greek Cypriot officials following the trial held at the SBA court today (3 December 2021).
In the Pile Village, which has a special status and where the Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots live together, the TRNC Police is authorized to deal with any incident involving TRNC citizens, while the Greek Cypriot police is authorized to deal with any incident involving the Greek Cypriots.
Against this background and despite the Greek Cypriot police’s acknowledgment that the alleged activity took place in the buffer zone, it is unacceptable and in contradiction with the established practice and custom that the TRNC citizen in question was not handed over to the TRNC authorities. Therefore, we strongly protest the SBA Administration. Our diplomatic efforts for handing over of our citizen to the TRNC authorities continue.
