Oil leak from Syria heads towards Cyprus amid shift in winds

By Muhammet Ikbal Arslan

LEFKOSA, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (AA) - The direction of a massive oil slick from Syria's Mediterranean coast has turned towards the shores of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), a Turkish Cypriot official said on Friday.

Huseyin Amcaoglu, who heads the Crisis Committee formed by the Turkish Cypriot government in response to the fuel oil spill, said that this turn was caused by a shift in wind currents that will continue until 3.00 p.m. local time and threatens both the island's eastern and northern coasts.

Also an undersecretary of the Prime Ministry, Amcaoglu said that the winds blowing from the north and east may once again redirect the leaked oil from Syria towards the TRNC coast.

The wind is expected to blow in the direction of the TRNC for six hours on Saturday, Amcaoglu added, noting that there had so far been no pollutants detected on the country's coast so far.

The source of the oil leak was a power plant in Syria's northwestern city of Baniyas, located on the Mediterranean coast, according to pro-Assad regime media outlets.