UK faces growing calls from locals to remove Cyprus military bases | Cyprus

Britain is facing growing calls to withdraw its military bases from Cyprus as locals step up protests against installations seen as a threat to their security following an unprecedented drone attack on RAF Akrotiri.

Anger over the facilities spilled into the streets of the capital Nicosia on Saturday, as protesters chanting “get out of the death bases” marched on the colonial-era presidential palace amid fears the Mediterranean nation would be dragged into the wider Iran conflict.

Mathaios Stavrinides condemned the existence of the bases established as part of the independence agreement negotiated for the island, saying, “They pose a danger to our security and should never have been here in the first place.” “We want them to be closed”

The growing dissent came after the country’s foreign minister, Constantinos Kombos, told the Guardian that the Iranian-made drone that hit the air base was launched from Lebanon, which is home to Iran’s proxy group Hezbollah and units of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Less than 12 hours after the explosive-filled device crashed into the facility late Sunday, two more fighter jets were captured off the island’s coast. They were also deployed from Lebanon, 150 miles east of the island.

“It is a fact that we need to look at the Lebanese front right now,” the minister said, confirming the origin of the drones for the first time. “We can’t rule out anything in the northeast direction. We have to be very careful… We have to make sure the systems in place cover all threat possibilities.”

Proud of the neutrality and humanitarian role of an island nation that is also the EU’s closest state to the Middle East, Cypriot officials have been adamant since the beginning of the US-led attack on Iran that it was the British bases, not the republic, that were chosen for attack.

They say Nicosia repeatedly raised a red flag about the threat to facilities during talks with London last year. Warnings were ignored.

RAF Akrotiri is the UK’s main outpost for overseas operations in the Middle East and is widely viewed as by far the most significant slice of territory held by Britain in 1960, when it retained 3% of the island’s landmass in exchange for independence.

“We have consistently communicated that if things go a certain way regionally, the bases could be targets,” Kombos said.

“This is a concern that we have consistently shared … but the outcome of these conversations is clear in terms of what happened Sunday night.”

He said it was clear that “not everything that can be done has been done to the level of our expectations, as the people who live and work on the bases, namely the Cypriots, have, and I’m sure the British government has too… but at the moment I want to focus on how co-operation develops”.

He said the rapid deployment of warships and air assets from several European states (military support coming at the request of Cyprus) would help strengthen the defenses of the facilities.

Britain has also replenished its air defense systems by sending Royal Navy Wildcat helicopters, which can eliminate threats from the air, in addition to the “extra-fast” F-35 fighter jets flown last month. But for many, this distribution appears to be too little, too late.

The destroyer HMS Dragon, which was repaired and re-equipped in Portsmouth, is not expected to be off the coast of Cyprus until next week.

“We don’t just want to stockpile assets. We want useful assets,” Kombos said. Defense plans did not focus only on military installations on UK territory, but were implemented with an approach covering the whole of Cyprus.

Although the protective cordon thrown around the island was unprecedented, Kombos said his government would continue to press for NATO membership, long blocked by Türkiye’s opposition.

“In the meantime, we are trying to make sure that a non-alliance member has the capacity to connect to NATO systems and structures to the extent possible.”

As the Cypriot government grapples with its worst security crisis since 1974, when an attempt to unite with Greece prompted Türkiye to invade, president Nikos Christodoulides insisted the country had no intention of being involved in any military operations and also said “nothing has been ruled out” when asked about the future of British installations.

Late Friday, Cypriot Defense Minister Vasilis Palmas announced that the Shahed-like drone managed to enter RAF Akrotiri undetected because it was “flying at an altitude of 1,000 meters and at a speed of 90 to 100 mph.” [per hour]”, too low and too fast to be easily detected by radar.

Anger at the bases has been fueled not only by ongoing resentment over the facilities seen as remnants of colonial empire, but also by a change in narrative about what exactly happened at RAF Akrotiri.

Holding a giant banner reading “Cyprus is not your launching pad”, Stavrinides said: “At first we were told that it hit a runway, then there are photos of a hangar being destroyed, then we learn that this hangar was used by American military elements, in particular the U-2 spy planes stationed there.

“Lies upon lies. We must take everything they tell us with an ocean of salt, and that’s why these protests will continue.”