The Prime Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management Committee convened to discuss the petrol slick that was making its way from Syria.

A team of 16 people from the Environmental Department were deployed to four different areas in Karpaz.

The team together with the team that arrived from Turkey are following the spread of the oil slick at sea.

Prime Minister Ersan Saner gave a press conference and evaluated the developments taking place.

He said that two separate ships would be coming from Turkey on Friday to clean the oil slick and added that as the government they were closely following the developments in this regards.

“15 tons of petrol from a power plant in Syria is in the sea and is causing serious environmental pollution in the west of the Mediterranean. We as the government immediately began the necessary work and are in contact with all the relevant departments. We are using all the means available to us in the TRNC and all the technical and logistical support provided for us from Turkey and are able to better grasp the situation” said Saner.

Noting that it was their aim to prevent the fuel oil from reaching the shores, he said that the barriers belonging to the Cyprus Turkish Electricity Authority were sent to the area to prevent this from happening.

Also referring to the two ships that have been deployed from Turkey, the ‘Nene Hatun’ and ‘Seyit Onbaşı’, Saner said that the ships will arrive on Friday.

“We are talking about an oil slick and it is not a very simple thing to clean up. Turkey has sent two of its ships to our country and they will arrive in the region on Friday. We are closely following the developments. Our Minister for Tourism and Environment is also in the area and 16 personnel from the Environmental Department are at 4 different points in Karpaz as well” said Saner.

Reiterating the government’s sensitivity towards the issue, Saner said that what remains to be done is the cleaning up efforts which the two vessels will begin on as soon as they reach the area.

He also thanked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay for their support.