Turkish Cypriots blame Syrian missile for blast near village
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) - A Turkish Cypriot official said Monday that a Syrian anti-aircraft missile that missed its target and reached ethnically divided Cyprus may have been the cause of an explosion outside a village in east Mediterranean island notion's breakaway north. No injuries were reported.
Kudret Ozersay, the north's foreign minister, posted on his personal Facebook account that an initial assessment of the pre-dawn blast indicated that a Russian-made missile that was part of an anti-aircraft battery had missed its target during overnight airstrikes in Syria.
Ozersay said the missile likely blew up in flight because there was no impact crater and pieces of the object were found several kilometers from the main debris field outside the village of Tashkent, or Vouno, as it's known by its Greek name.
He said the writing on debris matches that found on pieces of a Russian-made S-200 missile that crashed in Gaziantep, Turkey, in July 2018.
According to Turkish Cypriot broadcaster BRT, Prime Minister Ersin Tatar said no one was hurt in the explosion and that firefighting crews have contained a blaze that the burning debris had ignited.
Police have cordoned off the main debris field and other locations in nearby villages where more pieces of debris have been found.
Tatar said that Turkish military authorities may assist in the ongoing investigation.
Intensive Israeli airstrikes against targets in Syria around 120 miles (200 kilometers) away were taking place at the time of the blast at around 1 a.m. local time.
Cyprus was split in 1974 when Turkey invaded following a coup by supporters of union with Greece. The country's internationally recognized government is seated in the Greek Cypriot south. Only Turkey recognizes a Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence and keeps more than 35,000 troops in the north.
Cypriot Defense Minister Savvas Angelides said government authorities are investigating the blast but refrained from speculating on its cause.
The explosion even shook residents of the divided capital Nicosia several kilometers away.