Cyprus Must Weigh Israel's Request for a Jailed Property Developer

The Republic of Cyprus is legally obliged to consider Israel's request for the transfer of Simon Mistriel Aykut, who was sentenced to five years' imprisonment for the usurpation of Greek Cypriot properties in the occupied areas of the island, Cypriot Justice Minister Kostas Fytiris said in remarks reported on 10 February 2026. Israel has formally asked that Aykut serve the remainder of his sentence there under a bilateral transfer agreement that Cyprus is bound to respect, the minister said, noting that comparable transfers had been approved recently.

Aykut holds Israeli, Turkish and Portuguese nationality. He was convicted of exploiting and developing land in northern Cyprus belonging to displaced Greek Cypriots. Fytiris said Israel had formally recognised the offence and renewed travel warnings against such purchases, and added that Aykut could become eligible for release in six to eight months, saying Cyprus could not risk the public interest over so short a period.

Why building on that land is a crime in Nicosia

Cyprus has been divided since 1974. The Associated Press reported that the split followed a Turkish invasion launched after an Athens-backed coup attempt, and that Greek Cypriots fled the north unable to reach their property. The original statement in this case put the number forced from their homes at up to 200,000. Under international law, the release said, ownership of those properties remains with the original owners, and unauthorised commercial exploitation is a criminal offence in Cyprus.

That position has been tested in court. In its 2001 judgment in Cyprus v. Turkey, the European Court of Human Rights found continuing violations of the right to respect for the home and of the right to peaceful enjoyment of possessions, holding that displaced Greek Cypriots faced a total denial of access to their property without compensation, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross casebook. The internationally recognised government in Nicosia prosecutes developers who build on and sell that land, and the Associated Press quoted the prosecuting attorney in Aykut's case as warning that buying, building on or otherwise using Greek Cypriot land in the occupied areas amounts to serious criminal conduct.

How prisoner transfers between states work

Transferring a sentenced person from the country that convicted them to their home country is a routine instrument of international criminal cooperation, governed by treaty. The sentence itself is not annulled: the receiving state administers what remains of it, subject to its own rules on parole and remission. That is the point Fytiris was making about the calendar. If Aykut becomes eligible for release within months, the practical difference between transfer and refusal is small in time but large in signal, which is why a justice minister was discussing it publicly at all.

The Cyprus Mail reported the minister's position that Cyprus has an obligation to abide by the agreement, and his argument that Israel's acknowledgement of the offence, together with travel advisories warning Israelis away from property built on Greek Cypriot land, was itself a substantive gain for Nicosia.

What is still unclear

The statement did not name the bilateral agreement, say when Israel filed its request, or set a date for a decision. It did not say which recent transfers the minister was referring to, and it did not explain how eligibility for release in six to eight months was calculated. Nothing in the material indicates what Aykut himself or his lawyers have said.