Pilot arrested at Ercan airport in north Cyprus for failing to comply with police stop order

Ercan, 12 August 2025 — Salih Özgürgün, a pilot employed by a private airline and son of TRNC prime minister Huseyin Ozgurgun, was arrested at Ercan Airport on Monday evening after arriving at the airport on an inbound flight from Turkey.

Ozgurgun, a pilot for Turkish low-cost airline Pegasus, was photographed being led away from the airport in handcuffs and placed into a police car.

According to information obtained, a warrant for Özgürgün’s arrest had been issued after he allegedly failed to comply with a police “stop” order in a roadwork zone. Police claim the incident also involved allegations of driving under the influence and leaving the scene despite the police signal.

In his initial statement, Özgürgün reportedly told officers that he had misunderstood the signal at the time, believing he was following the flow of traffic, and therefore proceeded through the area.

Following his arrest at the airport, Özgürgün was taken to the police station as the investigation continues.

He was released on Tuesday morning after paying a fine.

His father Huseyin Ozgurgun served as north Cyprus’s ‘prime minister’ between 2016 and 2018, having previously served as ‘foreign minister’, then fleeing to Istanbul in 2019 after 16 million TL (around €2m at the time) which he had not formally declared was found in his bank account.

In the six years since then, it has been widely believed that should Ozgurgun return to north Cyprus, he would be arrested upon his arrival.