War fuels debate in Cyprus over UK military bases

A drone strike on a British airbase in Cyprus has reignited an enduring debate about the UK's presence on the island.

It's a week since the drone punched a hole in a hangar at RAF Akrotiri.

That hole, for some in Britain, symbolises embarrassing gaps in UK hard power.

For some in Cyprus, it's another unwelcome result of British military overreach.

"We just want to have an independent Cyprus," said local business owner Natasha Theodotou.

She was holding a banner that read "British Bases Out" at a demonstration outside the presidential palace in the capital, Nicosia.

"Just as we're occupied by the Turkish government," said Natasha, "we are occupied by the UK."

She wants to see a unified country where Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots live together.

Britain retained two major sovereign bases in Cyprus' south and south east, Akrotiri and Dhekelia, as part of a 1960 treaty that established the island's independence and ended its status as a British colony.

In 1974 Turkey invaded and took control of Cyprus' northern third in response to a Greece-backed military coup.

Not far from the protest tourists queue up at a checkpoint allowing passage into the Turkish-controlled part of Nicosia.

The city, which sits on the UN-patrolled buffer zone known as the Green Line, is sometimes called the world's last divided capital.

British military officials' best assessment is that the drone that hit RAF Akrotiri was launched in Lebanon by the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah.

The UK government has said its bases in Cyprus are not being utilised by US bombers for "defensive" strikes on Iranian missile sites.

But the reported use of the base by American U-2 spy planes may explain why RAF Akrotiri was a target, as Iran and its proxies retaliated against US-Israeli strikes.

Roughly 200 to 300 protesters joined the march on Saturday, carrying signs that were also pro-Palestine and critical of the US and Israel.

Chants included: "Say it loud, say it clear, British bases out of here."

The territory, kept by the UK, covers about 98 sq miles (254 sq km) and is even patrolled by a separate, special police force.

These Sovereign Base Areas (SBAs) are a lingering point of contention while also being highly interwoven into the island and a source of employment.

They encompass communities well beyond the fenced-off airbase of RAF Akrotiri, on the island's southern tip.

"I think that we'd be a lot safer without them here," said Shona Muir, holding up the British Bases Out banner with Natasha.

"Their presence alone here makes us more of a target."

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence told the BBC: "Our bases in Cyprus play a crucial role in supporting the safety of British citizens and our allies in the Mediterranean and in the Middle East."

"Just this week, we have flown Typhoon and F-35 fighter jets on sorties around the region, shooting down Iranian drones and defending innocent civilians from Iran's indiscriminate attacks," they added.

The Cypriot government has been at pains to stress that it's a UK base, not Cyprus, that was targeted by a drone and that Cyprus has no involvement in the ongoing conflict.

A UK foothold in the Eastern Mediterranean, RAF Akrotiri has long supported operations in the Middle East and, more recently, reportedly been used for surveillance flights over Gaza.

"We don't know what's happening in [the] British bases," said Stephanos Stavros, who also came to Saturday's demonstration.

"There are worries now that there are things there that we were not aware [of]."

Stephanos said the treaty establishing the bases should be complied with, but he wanted to see "full transparency".

This week, Cyprus' Foreign Minister, Constantinos Kombos, said the matter of British bases had been "on the agenda" for a long time.

"But I believe this is a conversation that one needs to have after we have a careful reflection as to what has transpired, especially in recent days and hours," he told BBC Newsnight.

Any renegotiation, in reality, would be extremely complex, given that the foundational agreements involved the UK, Greece, and Turkey as well as representatives from the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities.