Stefanou demands abolition of British Cyprus bases

Akel leader Stefanos Stefanou on Sunday demanded the abolition of the British bases in Cyprus, saying, “we have been emphasising this for decades”.

“Once again, the peoples of the world are paying a heavy price in blood for the interests of the powerful. This time, our small homeland was targeted, and not by chance. The presence of the British bases turned us into a target,” he said at an event held to mark International Women’s Day.

He added that his party has been “emphasising this for decades, calling for the abolition of the bases”, and that “the challenge now is to make it clear at every opportunity that Cyprus is not and does not want to become a war base”.

“Let the message leave Cyprus that our country is not involved in and does not want to be involved in any way in the war, but that it stands with the international community which calls for an immediate end to hostilities and for diplomacy to take hold,” he said.

His comments come after former British prime minister Rishi Sunak had said earlier in the day that Cyprus “is only a target because of our sovereign bases there”, while Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said that the government had “consistently” warned that the British bases could become a target in the event of a conflict in the region.

“We’ve consistently communicated that the bases could be a target if things move in a specific direction regionally,” he told British newspaper the Guardian, adding, “this is a concern we shared consistently”.

However, he said, “the outcome of those conversations is clear in terms of what transpired on Sunday night”, with the Akrotiri air force base, near Limassol, having been hit by an Iranian-made drone shortly after midnight last Monday.

On Saturday a protest was held in Nicosia demanding the removal of the British bases, which were never ceded to the Republic of Cyprus when the island was given independence from the British Empire in 1960.

President Nikos Christodoulides had on Friday said that “nothing has been ruled out” regarding the bases’ future in the aftermath of the drone strike, while other political circles on the island have openly expressed their discontent at the bases’ continued operation.

Opposition to the bases’ existence is bicommunal, too, with Turkish Cypriot opposition political party CTP deputy leader Asim Akansoy having said on Tuesday that the UK’s continued possession of two sovereign bases on the island is “a great mistake of history”.

Throughout the week, the UK has sought to bolster its defence of its bases on the island, and has to this end sent two AW159 Wildcat helicopters, armed with anti-drone missiles, to Cyprus, while the HMS Dragon Type 45 destroyer warship also expected to depart from Portsmouth within the coming days.

Since then, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has confirmed that Cyprus, and more specifically Akrotiri, has been used as the launchpad for missions aimed at engaging and shooting down drones fired from Iran.

Then, on Sunday morning, the BBC reported that the UK is considering sending an aircraft carrier in the island’s direction, quoting “defence sources” as having said that the crew of the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales has been given notice that the ship must set sail from Portsmouth in five days.