Man arrested after crossing to north with fake passport

A man appeared in court in the north on Thursday after having been arrested in Turkey, having flown from the north’s Ercan (Tymbou) airport after crossing to the north from the Republic, all with a fake passport.

Police officer Halil Ibrahim Gizmen explained in court that the man had presented a Gambian passport at passport control at Ercan (Tymbou) airport at around 10am on Tuesday before flying to Istanbul.

When he presented the fake passport a Turkish border guard at the airport, the passport was confiscated, and he was sent back to the north.

Gizmen said the man confessed to having used a fake passport to the Turkish Cypriot police and said he had used the same passport to cross to the north from the Republic at the Pergamos crossing point at 8am on Tuesday.

The man had also said he had first arrived in the north in 2017 before crossing to the Republic illegally “a few months ago”.

Gizmen said the police’s investigation into the matter had concluded and requested that the man be held in custody for a period not exceeding two months pending a trial.

The suspect said he has cancer and that he has one month left to live and asked to be sent to his country of origin.

Judge Nuray Necdet ordered that the man be sent to prison for a period not exceeding a month pending a trial, and that he be examined by a doctor before being taken to prison.