The competent services acted with professionalism and having as primary concern the protection of human lives, the Ministries of Justice and Defence and the Deputy Ministry of Migration and International Protection said in a joint statement regarding an incident in the maritime area between Cyprus and Syria, noting that those rescued were safely transferred to the nearest port of Tartus, Syria, within the framework of the existing Search and Rescue Agreement between the two states. The incident, they note, occurred outside the territorial waters of the Republic of Cyprus.