A Greek Cypriot mother and her daughter, 52 and 20 years old respectively, were arrested yesterday in occupied Morphou at the occupied Northern Cyprus. Early on Monday they were led to an illegal “military court” in occupied Nicosia.

Their crime was, according to the “police” of the illegal and internationally non-recognized Turkish-Cypriot “state”, that they were taking photos and videos in a military area.

However, the “military area” was in fact the house they own and were forced to abandon because of the 1974 Turkish invasion.

Speaking yesterday at the Cyprus News Agency, the Turkish Cypriot Chief of the Bi-communal Technical Committee on Crime Haki Onen had said that the women entered the garden of their house where a Turkish officer occupies now.

In a statement issued the Municipality of Morphou stated that it “strongly condemns the provocative and utterly irresponsible and unreasonable arrest of two of our civilizations who went to the occupied Morphou yesterday to see their rightfully owned home and not just the house they lived in before the invasion”.

In the statement, the Municipality of Morphou adds that “the occupation regime once again proceeds to an unacceptable move without any serious justification with the aim of possibly undermining any efforts to restart the talks”.

The statement ends with the wish that, “we hope that this unacceptable incident will have a happy ending as soon as possible and both of our citizens will return safely to the home they now temporarily live in after the Turkish invasion of 1974 and the continued occupation of half our country”.