Chants of \u201cBritish bases out\u201d have rung out in recent days in Limassol, as protesters call for the removal of UK military bases from\u00a0Cyprus\u2019s sun-drenched south coast island.<\/p>\n
Demonstrations erupted after a suspected Iranian-made drone struck RAF Akrotiri earlier this week, two days after US-Israeli attacks on Iran began.<\/p>\n list of 4 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n Prime Minister Keir Starmer has also allowed the US to use British bases for \u201cdefensive strikes\u201d on Iranian missile sites, a move that has intensified debate in Cyprus over the presence of the British military on the island.<\/p>\n The UK retained two sovereign base areas on Cyprus \u2013 Akrotiri and Dhekelia \u2013 since the island nation gained independence in 1960 under a fragile power-sharing arrangement between Greek and Turkish Cypriots.<\/p>\n For many Cypriots, that arrangement represented a compromise that left Cyprus only partially sovereign.<\/p>\n \u201cThe bases are a remnant of the colonial and imperialist empire of Britain,\u201d Melanie Steliou Nicolaou, an actress and TV presenter who lives near the Akrotiri RAF base, told Al Jazeera over the phone. \u201cTo me, Cyprus was never truly decolonised.\u201d<\/p>\n The bases, which are not part of any lease agreement benefitting the island economically, have served as launch points for British military operations in the Middle East.<\/p>\n Aircraft from RAF Akrotiri have supported campaigns in Iraq and Libya, while more recently the base has been used to assist Israeli operations in Gaza, where 70,000 people have been killed.<\/p>\n Nicolaou said the United Kingdom frames the bases as there for protection when, in fact, \u201cthey\u2019re really here to spy on the Middle East; when planes take off, people know they\u2019re going to a warzone or sharing intelligence for a mission.\u201d<\/p>\n In October, Declassified UK, a news outlet focused on British foreign policy, reported that more than 600 surveillance flights linked to Israel\u2019s genocidal war on Gaza had taken off from Cyprus during the first two years of the onslaught.<\/p>\n In the report, Declassified UK said that a US military contractor hired by the UK to conduct surveillance above Nuseirat refugee camp in northern Gaza the night before an Israeli bombing killed more than 30 Palestinians on December 12, 2024.<\/p>\n Nico, a resident and activist with the group Autonomy, Feminism, Ecology and Anti-Capitalism (AFOA) who requested Al Jazeera withhold his surname, described the bases as \u201cunsinkable launchpads\u201d that allow the UK to treat the island like an aircraft carrier for military campaigns.<\/p>\n He opposes them on moral grounds and because they put the local population at risk.<\/p>\n Nicolaou said the UK\u2019s response \u2013 updating personnel on the base while providing little information to nearby residents \u2013 angers many locals. More have joined campaigns to remove the bases.<\/p>\n \u201cNow that we are being attacked, people are realising that the activists and politicians who have been warning we are in danger might have been right,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n At a protest on Monday, dozens of new people attended, especially concerned parents, she said.<\/p>\n The sovereign base areas together cover approximately 3 percent of the island, but their footprint extends beyond military facilities, with several Cypriot villages lying within or partly within the territories.<\/p>\n Unlike bases in the Gulf, which the British military operates through leases or host-nation agreements, RAF Akrotiri and Dhekelia are effectively permanent British-controlled territories.<\/p>\n The UK had initially provided financial assistance to Cyprus after independence in 1960 under the arrangements that established the sovereign base areas, though the payments ended in the mid-1960s amid unrest on the island.<\/p>\n In 1974, a Greek-backed coup seeking union with Greece triggered a Turkish military intervention that divided Cyprus, a split that largely remains today.<\/p>\n This means that aside from the incomes of Cypriots who work on the bases, there is \u201cno advantage\u201d to Cyprus allowing these bases to operate, Nico told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n Nicolaou said that some people believe the British presence provides security against Turkiye, which occupies the northern third of the island.<\/p>\n But it is a view that she disputes, arguing the UK had \u201cfailed to intervene during the events leading to the island\u2019s division\u201d.<\/p>\n Nico added that during the fighting in 1974, locals had sought refuge on the bases; now the reverse was occurring, with people wanting to evacuate the area out of fear that they would be attacked by drones or missiles.<\/p>\n He said that on Monday, when the suspected Iranian drone attack occurred, some people got into their cars, scared and disoriented, and began driving away from areas surrounding the bases.<\/p>\n There is a strong perception that the government lacks leadership and that nationals are not being properly informed.<\/p>\n Many flights in and out of Cyprus have been cancelled, and in a country where tourism accounts for about 14 percent of GDP, the disruption could have a significant economic impact.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, the UK\u2019s Ministry of Defence said it was sending a warship to the island along with two Wildcat helicopters \u201cto bolster drone defence for our Cypriot partners\u201d, raising further fears that Cyprus will continue to be a target.<\/p>\n As Cypriots prepare to face further security threats and economic consequences, Nico expressed his frustration with a rhetorical question: \u201cAll this for what? Just to support the unprovoked attack of the US and Israel on Iran?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Chants of \u201cBritish bases out\u201d have rung out in recent days in Limassol, as protesters call for the removal of UK military bases from\u00a0Cyprus\u2019s sun-drenched south coast island. Demonstrations erupted after a suspected Iranian-made drone struck RAF Akrotiri earlier this week, two days after US-Israeli attacks on Iran began. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14090,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14089\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
A \u2018remnant\u2019 of British colonialism<\/h2>\n
![\"Palestinians](\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ap_69a97e5f5b16a-1772715615.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80\")
![\"Cyprus](\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/260303-6-1772714343.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80\")
\u2018No advantage\u2019 for Cypriots<\/h2>\n
![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/reuters_69a97911-1772714257.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80\")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"