A Cyprus court has sentenced an Israeli businessman to five years for developing and selling luxury apartment complexes in the breakaway northern part of the divided island without permission of the Greek Cypriot owners of the land. The case is one of several in which authorities are seeking to prevent developers and realtors from taking advantage of property that its rightful owner cannot access because it's located in the breakaway northern Cyprus. The case underscores the deeply contentious property rights in Cyprus, which was split in 1974. After the sentencing on Friday, a prosecuting attorney said the case sends a “clear message” that illegally buying or selling Greek Cypriot land in the north is a crime.
