Israeli developer gets jail for north Cyprus land development

A Cyprus court on Friday sentenced an Israeli businessman to five years in jail for illegally developing Greek Cypriot property in the Turkish-held north of the island, in one of the most politically charged cases in years.

Shimon Aykut, 74, who also holds Turkish and Portuguese citizenship, had earlier pleaded guilty to 40 charges of illegal appropriation of property in a plea bargain.

Decades-old property disputes stemming from the unresolved division of Cyprus in 1974 remain a source of tension on the eastern Mediterranean island.

Aykut, who has health issues, has been in a Greek Cypriot jail for over a year in what his family, and the Turkish Cypriot authorities, called politically motivated by Greek Cypriots. The charges he faced carried a maximum seven years in jail.

Tens of thousands of islanders remain internally displaced after infighting between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities in the 1960s, and a Turkish invasion after a Greek-inspired coup in 1974. 

Turkish Cypriot properties in the Greek Cypriot south are administered by a so-called guardian appointed by the Interior Ministry. In the north, most Greek Cypriot properties were redistributed to Turkish or Turkish Cypriots after the war.

North Cyprus has attracted considerable development in recent years. Prosecutors said a company connected to Aykut cashed in on about 40 properties, building lavish complexes along Cyprus's northern coast. The area was almost exclusively Greek Cypriot before 1974.

Aykut's defence lawyer, Maria Neophytou, urged leniency, citing his poor health, age and lack of prior convictions. She argued his role was "subsidiary" and motivated by helping his son, who managed the companies involved.