A man in Turkish-occupied Cyprus has been arrested over alleged espionage for Greek Cyprus, Turkish media report on Wednesday. The man allegedly took pictures of Turkish soldiers at the port of Famagusta.
According to daily Hurriyet, the “Turkish Cypriot police said they were intercepting the man, identified as Mehmet Besimoğlu, over suspicions that he was working as a spy for Greek Cypriots.
Besimoğlu was arrested on Aug. 29 after he took the photos with a digital camera. He admitted in his police testimony that he took the photos of the soldiers and the military base at the port to deliver them to a Greek Cypriot.
According to local media, the suspect was in “constant contact” with the unidentified Greek Cypriot through his phone line registered in Greek Cyprus.
Besimoğlu was sent to prison ahead of an espionage trial, the Turkish daily reports.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish Army occupied the north of the island state.
The occupied North was declared “independent” on Nov. 15, 1983. However, no state other than Turkey has recognized it as a state.
The latest attempt to reunify the long-divided Mediterranean island ended in failure in July 2017 after two years of negotiations.