Cyprus offers facilities for evacuation as Iran bombings begin
Cyprus has activated its ‘Estia’ plan, wherein people are evacuated from conflict zones via Cyprus, Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said, with the United States and Israel having launched an attack on Iran on Saturday morning.
He wrote in a post on social media that the plan is “activated in the event of an emergency or crisis, to allow the safe evacuation of people from nearby crisis areas from the wider Middle East region via Cyprus”.
In addition, he said, the Cypriot government is “closely monitoring the escalation of the situation in the region” and is “in constant communication” with its embassies in the region.
“At the same time, the foreign ministry’s crisis management department remains active and is on standby to manage the situation depending on developments,” he said.
Late on Friday night, the foreign ministry had issued a reminder to Cypriot citizens regarding its travel guidance for Iran, Israel, and the Palestinian territories, stressing that it advises against all travel to Iran, and that it advises all Cypriots currently on the territory of Iran to depart.
It added that it advises against all non-essential travel to Israel and the West Bank, and against all travel to Gaza.
Cypriots in Iran, Israel, and the Palestinian territories are invited to register their presence on the island’s Connect2CY online platform.
The foreign ministry’s crisis management department can be contacted at (+357) 22 801000 or (+357) 22 651295 during the same hours.
Outside of those hours, the ministry’s emergency contact number is (+357) 97 775998.