At 10:45pm GMT on Monday, March 2nd, the University Times received reports from members of the Trinity Society for International Affairs (SOFIA) that they were watching missiles fall near Cyprus live while on their reading week trip. Charlotte Vengrin, Secretary of SOFIA, said members had seen about 15 missiles drop and 3 get intercepted. Vengrin said they were “37 kilometres away from Larnaca”, which is where the missiles appeared to be dropping. It now appears that none made it through.
On Sunday, around midnight, the Guardian reported that a missile, allegedly launched by Lebanon’s Hezbollah, struck the UK’s Royal Air Force (RAF) Akrotiri base in Cyprus. SOFIA members landed in Cyprus on Saturday afternoon.
This Cyprus trip is the society’s “second trip after Belfast on the theme of peace process and conflict resolution”, Vengrin said, noting the Turkish occupation of Northern Cyprus. About 15 Trinity students are currently on the trip. Vengrin also said they would not return to Northern Cyprus, the Turkish-occupied portion of the island, as “[she’s] not leaving the EU right now”.
On call with the University Times, Saanvi Tripuramallu, SOFIA committee member, said they “were not expecting this at all”. In the middle of the interview, Tripuramallu reported seeing another missile fall: “That’s another one,” she said, “that one was fast, that one was really fast”.
Vengin said: “When we arrived nothing was happening and the Irish government said it was fine to be here. There’s been a sudden and unprecedented escalation and we’ve taken appropriate measures. We’re in contact with the Irish Embassy in Cyprus.”
As of March 3rd, the airspace is mostly open. According to the government of Cyprus, no missiles landed in the territory.
Artem Krasnov, a third-year BESS student visiting his family in Cyprus provided a comment saying
This is a developing story.
