Crowds in Greek Cyprus ‘attempt to lynch’ man with Turkish flag

NICOSIA

Greek Cypriot woman gets angry at man unfurling Turkish flag, throws flag into fire. DHA photo

Some Greek Cypriots who have been waiting for the re-opening of the banks in Nicosia reportedly attacked today an unidentified man who unfurled a Turkish flag.

Greek Cypriot police saved the man who is thought to be between ages of 30 and 35 from lynch attempt of angry crowd, Anatolia news agency reported.

The group then burned the Turkish flag while the man was detained by the police.

He carried a French passport, according to eyewitnesses.

Banks in Cyprus opened their doors today for the first time in almost two weeks, with tight controls on transactions to prevent a run on deposits after the island was forced to accept a stringent EU rescue package to avert bankruptcy.

In central Nicosia, queues of at least a dozen people had formed outside branches of the country’s two biggest lenders, Bank of Cyprus and Cyprus Popular Bank, also known as Laiki, Reuters reported.