Cypriot foreign minister Constantinos Kombos says there needs to be a “conversation” about removing the UK’s two RAF bases in Cyprus, after a drone strike on RAF Akrotiri last Sunday. 

“Right now we have the British bases on the island. There are questions. There are issues. There are concerns. Our displeasure was shared leading up to the incident [at RAF Akrotiri] and immediately afterwards,” Kombos told BBC Newsnight on Friday.

“We are now focusing on the current situation, how we can manage the crisis and there will be of course reflection as to lesson learned and issues that are of serious concern after the crisis.”

Asked whether he opposed the bases on the island as “a matter of principle,” the minister said: “I don’t think anywhere in the world would be in any position of accepting the presence of bases on the island.”. 

Kombos said the presence of the UK bases is something that has been on the agenda for a long time for both sides. “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.”

The issue has come to the surface since an Iranian drone, which security officials believe was fired by Iran’s ally Hezbollah, hit the Akrotiri base on March 2nd. No one was hurt, but the incident sent the island into high ⁠alert and forced nearby civilians to evacuate.

Cypriot politicians have long been uneasy with Britain’s two air bases, Akrotiri and Dhekelia, which have existed as sovereign British territory since Cyprus gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1960.

Source: Ekathimerini.com