CNN
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a suspect Russian missile is torn Northern Cyprus, in an incident which officials believe is linked to the military operation in syria.
A high-ranking official in northern Cyprus told CNN that the object crashed on a hill near the village of Tashkent, 15 (24 km) north of the capital Nicosia, just after midnight on Monday. No one was hurt, the official said.
“The first assessment is that a Russian-made missile, which was part of an air defense system activated last night in the event of an air strike against Syria, missed the target and completed its range and fell into our country,” Turkey Cyprus Foreign Minister Kudret Ozerse said on Facebook on Monday.
The Syrian Defense Ministry said on Twitter on Monday that Syrian air defense had intercepted “hostile missiles” launched by Israeli warplanes targeting military bases on the outskirts of Homs and Damascus.
The Israel Defense Forces have yet to comment on the incident, in line with their usual policy, but Israel has attacked military bases in Syria on several occasions in recent months.
CNN has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment, but has yet to receive a response.
Russia continues to support the Syrian government in his ongoing struggle against rebel groups.
Ozarse, whatever Deputy Prime Minister said in another facebook post The missile, believed to be a Russian-made S-200, was shot down in Turkey last year. He said the explosion was believed to have occurred in the air due to the lack of potholes on the ground.
The official who spoke to CNN said a team of experts from forces from Northern Cyprus and Turkey is investigating the object. The official said, ‘The government there is in touch with the countries involved.
Cyprus exists as divided The territory, and only Turkey, the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus – the northern part of the island – recognizes as valid.
before this became a British colony After independence in 1960, tensions began to rise between the Greek Cypriot majority and the Turkish Cypriot minority.
In 1974, Greek troops attempted a coup against the then President of Cyprus, Makarios III. Turkey joined the effort to overthrow the archbishop-turned-politician, eventually taking control of more than a third of the island, declaring it a separate Turkish Cypriot state.
This division persists today, with the UN-patrol buffer zone cutting off the entire island, which divides Turkish Cypriot north from Greek Cypriot south. Attempts to resolve the conflict have ended in failure.
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