CYPRUS: Stray missile was an ‘isolated incident’

Nicosia is treating the stray missile hitting the Pentadaktylos mountain range as an isolated incident, arguing that Cyprus has the defence capability to shoot down any threat from the air.

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Defence Minister Savvas Angelides said Cyprus does not have these defence systems online as the government does not feel that there is a threat of the island being attacked with missiles. He said the island’s missile defence system could be operational within 24 hours.

Angelides, talking to reporters after a visit to a military training camp in Larnaca for young National Guard conscripts, said he does not feel that Cyprus needs to switch on its air defence umbrella.

Asked whether Cyprus was in a war zone and should be planning to manage such situations, the Minister disagreed there was a threat from neighboring wars.

"I disagree, we are not in a war zone. The war in Syria has been taking place for several years without us being confronted with such an incident before".

Angelides said a single incident should not lead to the conclusion that Cyprus is in a state of war.

He noted the government is still in the process of collecting data on the ‘object’ that fell near Vouno, a village on the Pentadaktylos Mountain range north of the island.

“We will evaluate all the intel and come to our own conclusion,” he commented, noting the Republic has no control over the crash site.

Angelides said that the government cannot adopt the conclusions of the Turkish Cypriot authorities who believe the stray missile was fired from Syria during an Israeli air raid.

Meanwhile, Turkish specialists on chemical leakages were called in by Turkish Cypriot authorities to assess possible risks from fuel and explosives carried by the missile, with experts stating there was no threat to human health.