The risk of the massive oil slick to hit the Karpaz peninsula has significantly diminished for now, President Ersin Tatar said on Tuesday.

“It seems that the situation has now turned in our favour with the shifting of the wind,” he said, adding that they were continuing to take steps to prevent the slick from reaching the TRNC’s shores.

Speaking to the TAK news agency following a meeting with experts, Tatar said that meetings under the crisis management desk had continued throughout the day.

He said that ministers had worked in coordination with the Cyprus Turkish Security Forces, the coast guard and other units.

Tatar also said that they had been in consultation with Ankara and that experts from ministries in Turkey had been dispatched following his talk with the Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay.

He added that two ships dispatched from Turkey were to collect the waste while drones were sent to monitor the oil spill from sea and air.

Tatar said that they had also contacted the UN and were waiting for an explanation from the Syrian government.

“The slick is currently floating 12 miles out at sea and is not expected to be drifting towards our shores. The current predictions are that the slick might turn towards Syria or İskendurun,” he said.

Tatar explained that in time the slick would turn into mud and would sink to the bottom of the seabed, carrying the risk of reaching the shoreline.

“This is the first time we are facing a disaster of this proportion. We need to prepare for such disasters that might occur in the future,” he added.