Turkish fighter jets violate Nicosia FIR

A squadron of Turkish fighter jets on Thursday carried out flybys over Kyrenia, in what was a practice flight ahead of ‘celebrations’ in the occupied north marking the anniversary of the unilateral declaration of independence. In doing so, the jets violated the Nicosia Flight Information Region (FIR). According to Turkish Cypriot media, the jets are part of the ‘Turkish Stars’ – an aerobatic demonstration team of the Turkish air force. The social media account of the ‘Turkish Stars’ said the jets were in the skies over Kyrenia “with enthusiasm and pride as we celebrate the 43rd anniversary of the establishment of the ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’.” Reports said the jets would carry out another practice flight on Friday at 3.30pm. The actual demonstration flight would take place on the afternoon of Sunday, November 15 – the date of the unilateral declaration of independence by the breakaway regime back in 1983. According to their Wikipedia page, the ‘Turkish Stars’ were formed in November 1992. The team flies supersonic light fighter jets.