Caught in diplomatic crossfire, family fear for life of Jew imprisoned in Cyprus - exclusive

Caught in the trilateral diplomatic crossfire between Cyprus, Turkey, and Israel, the family of a Jewish Turkish-Israeli citizen held in a Cypriot prison told The Jerusalem Post that he endured allegedly inhumane conditions and they fear for his life after an ISIS inmate reportedly attempted to murder him.

Real estate developer Shimon Aykut, the Afik Group director, was arrested on June 10 in the Republic of Cyprus while on his way from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) to visit the State of Israel, where much of his family lives.

The regular visit was stopped short when Cypriot law enforcement seized Aykut for involvement in the purchase and development of property in the Turkish-occupied territory that Cyprus holds as the property of previously displaced Greek Cypriots.

Aykut, 74, was taken to Nicosia Central Prison to await an indictment to be filed on September 9. Attorney Ron Berkman, one of the lawyers representing the family, said they hoped to appeal to the EU Court of Justice once all legal efforts in Cyprus were exhausted, but Aykut’s family warned that the patriarch may not survive the lengthy proceedings.

Last Thursday, another prisoner, who they say is an ISIS member, approached Aykut with a phone card sharpened into a shiv. The family claims that when the alleged terrorist learned that Aykut was Jewish and Israeli, he nearly stabbed the elderly man before fellow prisoners intervened. This time, Aykut was lucky, said Berkman, adding that next time, there might be no one there to intervene.

“It is shameful that the prison puts criminals with a history of terrorist membership in jail with prisoners with minor crimes. Where is their sense of responsibility?” said Jack Afik, the CEO of Afik Group and Aykut’s son. “This time, it was ISIS, but I’m worried that next time, it could be Greek nationalists.”

A May 2024 report by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) warned that there was an increase in serious inter-prisoner violence at the Central Jail of Nicosia, with insufficient safety measures and prison leaders forming informal hierarchies among the inmates.

Aykut – a Jew, an Israeli, and a Turk accused of committing white-collar crimes – is in the crosshairs of various factions of violent extremists who may be housed in close proximity to him, his son and Berkman explained. The family fears that Aykut, a Turkish citizen and TRNC resident who doesn’t speak Greek, could be attacked by Greek nationalists who have been roused by actors seeking to present him as a prime example of a “usurper” of “immovable property.” In addition, there are other Islamist prisoners who may attempt to finish the job of their peers by murdering a Jew.

“All the time, there are situations where they have to get him away from the Palestinians there,” Berkman told The Jerusalem Post on August 21. “He is constantly feeling that at any moment, someone will stab him with a knife.”

The family claims that authorities have done little to secure Aykut, despite Cypriot sources indicating that they were making efforts to ensure his safe detention. Yet the danger to Aykut’s life while in prison is greater than just the inmate population. According to the family, he is being held in inhumane conditions that are inappropriate for any prisoner, let alone an elderly man with health issues.

The 2024 CPT report warned that in May 2023, the prison was severely overcrowded, exceeding 300% of its originally designed inmate capacity, with some accommodations not fit for even one person but crammed with up to four, and smoking permitted in all communal spaces. Prisoners lacked toilets at night and urinated in bottles in the “hot, packed cells.” Prison officials, not nurses, distributed the medication. Based on the claims made by Aykut’s family, these harsh conditions have persisted throughout his tenure at the facility.

Concerned daughter

Aykut’s daughter, Sally, said that he sleeps in a cell with four other prisoners. Berkman said that the standard was three square meters per inmate, but with a six-meter squared cell, Aykut had only half of that space. One night, the cell grew so hot that he fainted, Sally claimed.

Echoing the CPT report, Aykut must urinate in a bottle, but according to his wife, Racheli, a man of his advanced age has to do so more frequently, requiring his roommates to give him their bottles.

According to a private doctor’s medical report, Aykut has a history of high blood pressure, for which he requires medication. Berkman said that Aykut had been given the wrong medication several times. Sally said that he normally sleeps with an oxygen mask, which the prison refused to provide until the family appealed to the Israeli embassy.

“Where are the conditions of a European country?” demanded Afik, adding that it was like a prison in a third-world country. Sally said that her father shouldn’t be held in prison in such conditions, especially since he hasn’t even been sentenced, let alone indicted.

Aykut, who keeps kosher and is a vegetarian, has not been getting proper nutrition, the family claimed. Sally said she had tried getting permission for kosher food to be delivered from a local Chabad house.

“He doesn’t have any source of protein,” Sally said. “All he eats is plain rice and pasta; they don’t even give him cucumbers or tomatoes. All we’re asking here is for a tomato.”

Sally said she was disturbed that Aykut has lost almost 15 kilos in over two months and that he had to be taken to the hospital several times.

The family expressed great concern about Aykut’s health, describing it as rapidly deteriorating. However, an August 8 letter from a private doctor, who conducted a medical examination, indicated that while his vital signs were normal, he was experiencing psychogenic symptoms and other minor problems that required attention, including a urologist’s evaluation for his enlarged prostate. Afik was attempting to secure the evaluation, but as of Tuesday, he has not succeeded.

Afik had hoped that his father would be released to house arrest. The family’s lawyers suggested implementing electronic surveillance or placing Aykut under armed guard in a Cypriot Chabad house until his arraignment, but the court denied their requests. Afik said his father was being treated “as if he were a murderer,” with the authorities insisting that he remain at the overcrowded prison.

“Why is my father being held in such harsh conditions?” Afik asked.

THE GEOPOLITICAL conflicts and machinations between Cyprus, Turkey, and Israel are what led to Aykut’s allegedly harsh treatment, according to Afik and Berkman.

Noting the 50-year anniversary of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus marked in July and the possibility of the revival of peace talks, Berkman contended that Aykut was being used as a card in the diplomatic games with the TRNC and as the “flagship” in their legal project to reassert private property claims for domestic political consumption.

While the scope of the Cyprus criminal code was expanded in 2006 to encompass any actions related to the “immovable property” of Greek Cypriots in the TRNC, Berkman said that there had been almost no criminal proceedings based on the law in almost 15 years.

Proper proceedings would entail taking the matter of alleged infringement of Greek Cypriot property before the Immovable Property Commission, which was established in 2005 to remedy property owners’ claims without prejudice to Turkish Cypriots’ rights. Berkman said that there had been no attempt to lay claim to the property being developed by the Afik Group through this mechanism.

“Jack Afik started his operations in 2006 after the establishment of the IPC, which means that all his activities are subject to the rules laid out by the European Court of Human Rights,” said Berkman. “We believe that the European Court will decide that this arrest is illegal.”

According to Berkman, Aykut was only nominally involved in the Afik Group, with his son serving as the company’s true chief officer. Afik included his father in projects and listed him as the property owner out of respect for his role as the family patriarch. Arrest warrants for Afik and his brother had also been issued, which, Berkman said, was “ridiculous” because his brother worked in the administration of a cafe.

The Afik Group had been targeted because of its success, Berkman charged. He and Afik also explained why they believe Aykut’s background and current events made him vulnerable.

The Turkish government needed to do more to help his father, said Afik, and hoped that they would help the family secure his safety.

“On the other side, there are people who have developed a strategy. Let’s suppose that they were now choosing, instead of my father, one of the other developers, who is Turkish – not Israeli, [but] Turkish and Muslim. This would push Turkey into a more aggressive [stance],” said Afik.

Berkman said that Israeli President Isaac Herzog and his office attempted to discuss the issue with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, but the latter claimed he could not interfere in the independent proceedings of the judicial system.

However, Afik also accused the Israeli Foreign Ministry of doing the “minimum” required by law. Berkman asserted that “Cyprus was helping Israel with threats from Hezbollah” and suggested that “there were more important interests in Cyprus than Jack Afik.” Afik said he believed Israeli inaction was also due to an “anti-Turkish agenda.”

Given the gap in diplomatic protection, Berkman also indicated that Aykut was being used as a perfect example to threaten other real estate developers and foreign investors. Notably, a 25-year-old Israeli was also remanded on August 15 for charges “related to money laundering, suspicious transactions in real estate, and use of land registered to another person,” according to the Cyprus Mail. A Turkish Cypriot faced property charges for the first time in January but was released on bail. In a January statement, in response to that arrest, Christodoulides said that his government was not attempting to make property disputes a political issue and had nothing to do with possible negotiations.

“Illegality is illegality, and this effort to bring to justice all those involved in the usurpation of Greek Cypriot properties will not stop under any circumstances,” Christodoulides said in January.

Aykut’s family said that they were having difficulties coping with his arrest. “I don’t sleep through the night,” his wife said, because “all I think about is Shimon.” Sally takes medication to help her fall asleep. She has two children to care for but hasn’t spent a single weekend with them since her father’s arrest, flying every Friday to visit him.

According to Afik, the family would “have no problem addressing the legal challenges” and would deal with the matter in court as needed. However, the inhumane prison conditions, coupled with threats from other prisoners, created a pressing humanitarian problem.

“At the end of the day, we just want to save my father,” said Afik.