Did Israeli fighters cross Nicosia FIR?

ISRAELI FIGHTER jets crossed through the Nicosia Flight Information Region (FIR) all the way to the Turkish coastline, it was reported yesterday. 

Cypriot military sources confirmed that two Israeli fighter jets requested permission to enter the Nicosia FIR before 12pm. The jets flew to Apostolos Andreas at an altitude of 45,000 feet. The source could not confirm if the military aircraft flew to the northern edges of the Nicosia FIR, some 15 miles from Turkey’s coastline. 

However Israeli diplomatic sources last night rejected the idea that any Israeli aircraft had flown over Nicosia FIR on Wednesday.

According to yesterday’s Phileleftheros, the two fighter jets entered the Nicosia FIR before midday on Wednesday, flying from Tel Aviv towards Apostolos Andreas, the monastery at the northeastern tip of the island, and from there on towards Mersina bay in Turkey. 

It said the Israeli military aircraft flew across the northern boundary separating the FIRs of Nicosia and Ankara, passing along Turkey’s coastline, and almost reaching Finike in Turkey – east of Kastelorizo – where the Nicosia FIR ends, before flying back to Tel Aviv. 

The paper also said that before Israel had sent its two jets across the Nicosia FIR for a fly-about, Turkey had sent a military aircraft propeller towards Beirut’s coastline near the Israeli FIR, which returned to Turkey via the Nicosia FIR. 

Meanwhile, in the early afternoon on Wednesday, an Israeli military helicopter reportedly flew over the Homer rig in Block 12, south of Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The chopper flew in a figure eight, covering a distance of around 25 miles over the rig for two to three hours.  

Turkish seismic research vessel Piri Reis has also been in the area, reportedly doing research on hydrocarbon deposits in Cyprus’ EEZ, accompanied by two Turkish warships conducting patrols in the area. On Tuesday, the Piri Reis was around 45km from the rig and 100km from the Cypriot coastline, while the two warships entered Blocks 7, 8 and 12, where the rig is working.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.