ISTANBUL, (AFP) — A hotel in Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus has threatened Jennifer Lopez with a 40 million dollar lawsuit after she cancelled a concert there for “political” reasons, press reports said yesterday.

The chief executive of the Turkish company which runs the hotel and casino complex said Lopez still had time to change her mind about the July 24 gig.

“The contract has not been terminated. If she does not show up for the concert, we will begin a procedure in the courts to claim 35-40 million dollars in damages,” warned Murat Bozoglu, speaking from the company’s headquarters in Istanbul.

“The cancellation….is not covered by any clause in the contract she signed with us,” said Bozoglu.

Lopez drew the wrath of Greek-Cypriots in the southern half of the divided island after the new Cratos Premium hotel and casino complex announced the singer would perform there on her 41st birthday.

But the singer scrapped the plans after criticism that the appearance would make a political statement, entertainment website TMZ.com reported Thursday.

“Jennifer Lopez would never knowingly support any state, country, institution or regime that was associated with any form of human rights abuse,” a representative for the American singer and actress told TMZ.

The US-based American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association claimed the concert would “lend credence to an illegal entity recognised only by Turkey”.

Cyprus has been divided since Turkey occupied the north in 1974 in response to an Athens-engineered coup in Nicosia aimed at uniting the Mediterranean island with Greece.