*Athanasios Tsakalos

Turkish transport aircraft type CN-235 with surveillance and electronic warfare capabilities was flying in circles in two different areas over the buffer zone within 24 hours, putting all the competent authorities of the Republic of Cyprus on alert.

One of the two incidents occurred last Thursday in Denia. Subsequently, when asked to comment on the incident, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Konstantinos Kombos, revealed that another Turkish flight had taken place in Geri on Wednesday.

For his part, the Mayor of Denia, Christakis Panagiotou, stated that since 1974, there has never been an aircraft that flew over Denia, because it is within the Buffer Zone, while in terms of the plane in question, he said that it made 5 to 6 flights over the village at a low altitude and then proceeded into the center of the buffer zone where it stayed for about an hour.

Mr. Panagiotou asks the Peacekeeping Force to finally assume its role, saying that it seems the United Nations is on the wrong track by seeking rapprochement in this way, as rapprochement must take place gradually and not in favor of the strong, while imposing on the weak.

In addition, as the Minister of Foreign Affairs revealed, there was another similar incident with a Turkish aircraft flying in the buffer zone in Geri. According to the information, this is the same aircraft that flew over Denia the next day. The Minister stated that he had already approached the Special Representative of the United Nations regarding the Cyprus issue, who was urgently summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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UNFICYP’s Spokesperson, Alim Siddiq, stated that they are aware of the incident concerning the Turkish military aircraft in the buffer zone and an investigation is currently underway to establish the exact circumstances of the flight incident. So far, the exact location of the aircraft remains unclear.

The President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulidis, stated that this is an illegal activity on the part of the Turkish Air Force to collect information with regard to the buffer zone. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has all the information before it and shall take the actions it took in the past in similar incidents.

It should be noted that the incident is added to a series of illegal actions by the occupying power that is attempting to appropriate the buffer zone. In just less than a year in Denia, Turkish soldiers harassed Greek-Cypriot farmers and proceeded to illegally build an outpost in the buffer zone.

Despite the intimidation, the inhabitants of the area declare that they are not going to leave their homes, whereas the United Nations remains faithful to the policy of equal distances.

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Regarding the aircraft in question and based on the photo obtained, it is the Turkish CN-235 transport aircraft which, apart from transporting troops, it has intelligence gathering, maritime surveillance, and electronic warfare (ESM, ECM, ELINT, and COMINT) capabilities.

The CN-235 is a medium-range twin-engine aircraft, jointly developed by Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA (CASA) of Spain and Indonesian manufacturer IPTN. Its major user is Turkey, which has 59 aircraft.

CN-235 technical characteristics:

• Length: 21.40 meters
• Wingspan: 25.81 meters
• Height: 8.18 meters
• Transport capacity: 51 passengers / 35 paratroopers, 21 stretchers with 4 hospital personnel or four HCU-6/E military air-cargo pallets
• Maximum take-off weight: 16,100 kg
• Propulsion: 2 x General Electric CT7-9C3 turboprops
• Maximum cruise speed: 450 km/h
• Endurance: 4,355 km
• Maximum payload: 5,950 kg

In addition to Turkey, the CN-235 is used by the Air Forces of about 25 countries, including Nepal, Oman, Gabon, and the United States.

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With information from: sigmalive.com, defenceredefined.com.cy