Turkish F-16 fighter jets have been flying over Cyprus with increasing frequency, with residents reporting sightings and hearing the aircraft over Nicosia on Tuesday.

The aircraft are understood to have taken off from Tymbou airport in the north before flying towards the Pentadaktylos range and subsequently returning to their base.

A source within the defence ministry informed the Cyprus Mail that Turkish F-16 flights from Tymbou had become particularly frequent in recent months.

Residents in Aglandjia and Pallouriotissa contacted the Cyprus Mail after seeing and hearing the fighter jets over the capital.

Similar reports have been received from Larnaca, however, the same source said there had been no confirmed Turkish F-16 flights over the area.

The ministry has itself also recorded an increase in Turkish fighter activity within the Nicosia Flight Information Region in recent days.

Turkey deployed some six F-16s to the north on March 9, accompanied by air defence systems, in response to Greece having stationed four F-16s at Andreas Papandreou air base in Paphos on March 2.