Thanasis Photiou
The case of the Israeli businessman Simon Aykut was the first to be tried in a court of the Republic against an individual who had “actively participated in the illegal appropriation of real estate in the areas occupied by Turkey, by building on them and defrauding the lawful owners.” Given that, his conviction last October to five years in prison took on a celebratory tone, with the government declaring that it was sending a clear message to anyone involved in the seizure of occupied Greek Cypriot properties. As the government spokesperson put it, “The usurpation of Greek Cypriot properties in the occupied territories of the Republic is addressed neither passively nor with tolerance.”
Simon Aykut was arrested on June 7, 2024 at the Deryneia crossing while trying to pass from the occupied areas into the government controlled areas. According to the prosecution, during the trial that began in May 2025, the businessman had been involved from 2014 to 2024 with the “Afik” group, which is heavily engaged in constructing and selling real estate in the occupied territories. The group carried out illegal developments and seized Greek Cypriot properties in the greater Famagusta area. More specifically, this involved the construction and sale of properties built on 40 plots of land totaling 394,969 square meters, all belonging to Greek Cypriot refugees.
At an early stage, his lawyers challenged the jurisdiction of the Republic’s courts to try offenses committed in the occupied areas, but that objection was rejected. Then in October 2025, while the trial was ongoing, Aykut changed his plea on 40 charges and admitted guilt. He acknowledged building six tourist complexes in the occupied villages of Agios Amvrosios in Kyrenia, Trikomo, Akanthou, and Gastria in Famagusta, without any consent, direct or indirect, from the lawful owners. The Land Registry estimated the total value of the 40 plots at more than €36 million. As a result, on October 24, 2025, the Nicosia Criminal Court sentenced him to five years in prison.
Last February, one month after the leak of the well known video, which was only recently traced on April 10 to the Israeli private intelligence company Black Cube, Israel submitted a request to transfer him so he could serve his sentence in his home country. Even though the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons allows a state to refuse such a request, the Cypriot government, through Justice Minister Kostas Fitiris, quickly stated that the Republic “is obliged” to comply based on the international agreements it has ratified.
This high profile case did not stay confined to the courtroom. During Nikos Christodoulides’ visit to Israel in April 2025, the Aykut family filled the streets with large billboards showing the President of the Republic alongside a message in Hebrew that read, “Cyprus is dangerous for Israelis.” Also worth recalling is that last February, at the same time as Israel’s request and Cyprus’s claimed obligation, reports in the press said that the company had resumed development work on the occupied properties.
Even so, Simon Aykut was transferred to Israel within April, one week after Black Cube acknowledged its role behind the video. He will most likely be released sooner than if he had remained in Cyprus. Because Kostas Fitiris may speak of “zero tolerance for usurpation,” and Konstantinos Letymbiotis may insist that such acts are handled neither passively nor with tolerance, yet in practice they are handled with indulgence. The “strong message” seems to have been enough once it was stated in court. As Evangelos Giannopoulos famously said back in 1994, “Come on, we are not going to bring down the government over a lousy house.”
