The Nicosia criminal court on Monday postponed till June 10 the trial of Turkish-Israeli property developer Simon Mistriel Aykut who is charged with the development and sale of €43 million worth of property on Greek Cypriot land in the north.

The proceedings were scheduled for Monday, however the defence requested they be postponed due to the lawyer falling ill.

Until June 10 the defendant will remain in custody.

Aykut was arrested in June last year while attempting to cross from the north to the Republic.

He is the founder of the Afik Group, which has carried out various construction projects in Trikomo, many of which are believed to be on Greek Cypriot land.

Beside Aykut’s case, the number of cases regarding the alleged illegal development of Greek Cypriot property in the north is on the rise, with two Hungarian nationals having become the first to be sentenced to prison over the matter last month.

They had admitted to promoting and advertising the sale of houses near Kyrenia on the internet.

Meanwhile, the case of a German national who reportedly spoke about selling property in the north to an off-duty police officer during a flight to Larnaca is ongoing, and arrest warrants have been issued for four Turkish nationals in connection with developments in the Famagusta district village of Lefkoniko.

Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar had described the arrests as “acts of terrorism” and likened the moves to the violence faced by Turkish Cypriots in the 1960s.