Akinci asks for firefighting help, Anastasiades sends three aircraft  

The Republic on Friday was helping the north battle a fire that broke out near the village of Kalivakia, in Kythrea.

Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci called President Nicos Anastasiades asking him to assist with a firefighting aircraft, government spokesman Kyriacos Kousios said.

Anastasiades gave the order that help be deployed immediately and three firefighting aircraft from the forestry department were sent to battle the flames. Another helicopter from the police force was on its way to aid and three firefighting trucks were also made available if they were needed, Kousios said.

Deputy ‘Prime Minister’ Kudret Ozersay in a post on social media said help was requested through the UN in consultation with the ‘ministry’ of agriculture. He added it was important and necessary to cooperate over such matters.

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.