Cyprus property dispute intensifies after French detention under European arrest warrant

Turkish Cypriot parliament speaker Ziya Öztürkler said the arrest of Lithuanian real‑estate consultant Rasa Zilevice in France, carried out under a European Arrest Warrant issued by the Republic of Cyprus, is “a new example of oppressive and inhuman methods against the Turkish Cypriot people.” He argued the move targets the economic lifeline of the Turkish Cypriot community and politicises the courts.

The incident follows an earlier French detention of Iranian‑born businessman Behdad Jafari, also sought by Cyprus over disputed property in the north. Both cases illustrate how the Cyprus division is spilling into European courts, raising tensions over property rights, extradition procedures and the broader political deadlock between the Greek‑Cypriot and Turkish‑Cypriot sides.