Parents of George Low express renewed hope after UK parliament debate

London, United Kingdom. The parents of British man George Low, who was stabbed to death in Ayia Napa in 2016, said on Friday that they had “more hope” of achieving justice after his case was debated in the House of Commons earlier this week.

Helen and Martyn Low described the debate as “emotional”, while Martyn Low said it was “very encouraging” and that British parliamentary undersecretary of state for foreign affairs Uma Kumaran appeared to want “to take things forward”.

Arrests and deportations

George Low was stabbed in August 2016. Later that month, Sali Ahmet and Mehmet Akpinar, who were suspected of involvement in the murder, were arrested by Turkish Cypriot police after travelling to Nicosia and climbing the city walls on Markos Drakos street.

Police officer Ayhan Ozogul told the Turkish Cypriot Nicosia district court that both men had confessed to the murder.

However, Gurdal Hudaoglu, then Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci’s undersecretary, told newspaper Yeniduzen at the time that the Republic of Cyprus authorities had never officially notified Turkish Cypriot authorities about the incident or that they believed the two men had crossed to the north after the murder.

Turkish Cypriot authorities could therefore only prosecute the pair for illegally crossing the Green Line. Both men were deported in June 2017.

Subsequent proceedings

Akpinar returned to Cyprus in July 2017 through the new port of Kyrenia. He was again convicted of entering without permission from Turkish Cypriot authorities and deported for a second time.

More recently, authorities in Turkey’s Hatay province attempted to prosecute Akpinar for the murder, as it was believed he was the person who stabbed Low. The case was later dropped.

Turkey’s authorities appear to maintain that proceedings cannot continue without evidence from the Republic of Cyprus. The Republic of Cyprus maintains that it cannot hand evidence to a state with which it has no diplomatic relations.

UK government engagement

During the House of Commons debate, Kumaran said that responsibility for the investigation lies with Cypriot authorities, while adding that the UK government had remained actively engaged in the case throughout.