We crossed the frontier by land, so the airline taking us to Cyprus (the other one) would have had no reason to have checked the validity of my passport. However I did check and found that my passport would only be valid four months after my trip. No issue getting a new passport issued either, seems it happens all the time.
The point I was trying to make is assumptions can be dangerous, and rules do change. With the Internet it takes two minutes to check. Of course 'your mileage will vary'.
For example, if you are an American travelling to Venezuela you now need a visa. You didn't last week.