Turkey accused Israel of violating the airspace of Northern Cyprus five times last week. The area is reportedly a site of oil and gas exploration being claimed by both halves of the island.

"A plane belonging to Israel, the model of which could not be identified, violated KKTC [Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus] airspace [above its territorial waters] five times," the Turkish high command said in a statement.

"In response to this situation, our 2XF-16 plane based at Incirlik was scrambled and our planes carried out patrol flights in KKTC airspace, preventing the said plane from continuing to violate KKTC airspace," the statement continued.

Turkey is the only country to recognize The Republic of Northern Cyprus. An IDF spokeswoman said she was checking the report.