NICOSIA, Jan 24 (AFP) - Turkish Cypriot authorities have arrested a fifth person in connection with the murder of a fugitive banker and his family in the Greek Cypriot south of the divided island, officials said Monday.
The man was identified as Hikmet Oruc, but it was not immediately clear whether he was a Turkish Cypriot or a Turkish national.
He was detained on Sunday after arriving in the breakaway north from Turkey, police inspector Hasan Esenboga told a court hearing in the Turkish-held sector of Nicosia.
The court remanded the suspect for three days and ordered four other suspects, arrested last Wednesday, to spend another three days in custody.
The Turkish Cypriot interior minister had initially identified the four only as "Turks", but they were later said to be Turkish Cypriots.
Banker Elmaz Guzelyurtlu, 52, his wife Zerin, 50, and their 15-year-old daughter Eylul were found dead on the edge of a motorway on January 15.
They were all dressed in pyjamas and were shot at close range, prompting Greek Cypriot police to suggest they were the victims of a mafia-style killing.
The Turkish Cypriot press has identified two of the suspects as former employees of Guzelyurtlu, claiming that they even attended his funeral.
Guzelyurtlu had been living in the internationally recognized Greek Cypriot south since 2000 when he fled the Turkish Cypriot north following the collapse of his Everest Bank, with debts estimated by the media at 42 million dollars.
The collapse of Everest and other banks left many Turkish Cypriots penniless and fueled economic turmoil in the enclave.
It was not clear how Turkish Cypriot authorities are to proceed with the case without access to the crime scene and possible evidence in the south.
Cyprus has been divided along ethnic lines since 1974 when Turkey invaded the north following an Athens-engineered coup aimed at uniting the island with Greece.
01/24/2005 19:11 GMT - AFP