'CITY OF DREAMS' PLAN PUTS RAF AKROTIRI AT RISK

The Times 23 October 2019 - article by Lucy Fisher, Defence Correspondent, Keith Perry, Limassol

A pair of RAF Typhoons wait to embark upon a night mission from RAF Akrotiri. The base has been the launchpad for British airstrikes against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq since 2014Cpl Tim Laurence/RAF

Multimillion-pound plans to boost tourism in Limassol could force the closure of a nearby RAF base, the city’s mayor warned as he branded British military stations an anachronism in modern Cyprus.

Nicos Nicolaides’s ambitious plans involve developing land up to the border of RAF Akrotiri, which lies on a peninsula on the southwest of the island over which Britain retained control after Cypriot independence.

Mr Nicolaides said future generations would ridicule British troops being based in Cyprus, and called for a “resolution” to end the arrangement.

RAF Akrotiri has been the launchpad for British airstrikes against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq since 2014. Last year RAF Tornado and Typhoon missions flown from the base, which do not require the assent of the Cypriot government, provoked protests from several hundred anti-war demonstrators on the island and criticism from the main opposition Akel party.

The island’s proximity to the Middle East and north Africa also make it a key listening post. It is thought that key surveillance technology is based there, feeding Britain’s intelligence agencies.

Mr Nicolaides said: “British forces being in Cyprus is out of date. We have a very good relationship with Britain but this needs to be resolved. Hopefully it can be done amicably.”

The plans involve a redevelopment of Limassol’s waterfront and old port, on which work has begun. The project, nicknamed City of Dreams, has attracted £465 million investment and aims to attract 300,000 tourists a year, creating 11,000 jobs for the country.

The UK armed forces have a second base on Cyprus called Dhekelia, which lies farther to the east. The two areas comprise a British Overseas Territory and are administered as sovereign bases. The arrangement was struck in the treaty that ended UK colonial rule of Cyprus in 1960.

The UK government would be loath to abandon its strategic position. The warm climate also makes it popular with British forces; the Ministry of Defence describes the base as “probably the most sought-after posting in the Royal Air Force”.

Last year British officials concluded that Britain would have to spend tens of millions of pounds building a port to service its military base in Cyprus in the event of a no-deal Brexit.