Nicosia, Cyprus. Turkish Cypriot opposition political party deputy leader Asim Akansoy said the United Kingdom’s continued possession of two sovereign base areas in Cyprus is “a great mistake of history,” a day after the British Akrotiri air force base was hit by a drone.
Akansoy’s remarks in the Turkish Cypriot legislature
Akansoy told the Turkish Cypriot legislature that “a country’s fate cannot be determined by external interventions,” and said the UK’s bases in Akrotiri and Dhekelia “are not merely military bases, but are British sovereign territory.”
“These structures have a historical background. The bases are a product of British imperialism,” he said, while also criticising the Republic of Cyprus’ inviting of further external forces to the region.
Opposition to additional foreign military presence
Akansoy said, “We cannot accept initiatives for American, Israeli, or French military bases in the current de facto situation in Cyprus,” adding that he and others had issued warnings about the American use of the airbase at Paphos airport.
“We told them, ‘you are playing with fire’. The island is not capable of handling this many weapons and military agreements based on weapons,” he said.
Position on the Middle East conflict
On his party’s stance regarding the conflict in the Middle East, Akansoy said, “we neither support the ideology of the mullah regime in Iran, nor the conflict policies of the US and Israel in the region”.
“We want the people living there to determine their own destinies, to preserve their own cultural and social structures, and to decide their own future,” he said.
Calls for cooperation between the island’s communities
CTP member Teberruken Ulucay said that with the bases having been hit and an Iranian general having threatened Cyprus, “we, the Turkish Cypriot people, are experiencing a situation we absolutely do not deserve”.
He said the island’s two major communities “can act together, especially in terms of security”.
“We have different opinions on the Cyprus issue, but despite this, solidarity can be shown, as in the case of foot and mouth disease,” he said, referring to the donation of 60,000 doses of the foot and mouth vaccine by the Turkish Cypriot authorities as the Larnaca district battled an outbreak.
What steps, if any, should the island’s two major communities take together on security issues?
