The massive oil slick from Syria's Mediterranean coast has again started to flow towards the shores of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) after previously reversing direction due to winds, a Turkish Cypriot official said on Friday.
Hüseyin Amcaoğlu, 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 which threatens both the island's eastern and northern coasts.
Also an undersecretary of the Prime Ministry, Amcaoğlu 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, Amcaoğlu added, noting that there have so far been no pollutants detected on the country's coast.
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.
