The reality and the illusion about the British Bases in Cyprus
” A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity. An optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
(W. Churchill)
From time to time the British Bases of Cyprus become a main subject of discussion amongst the Cypriot political parties and various academic “experts” on international affairs.
The first thing the Cyprus government needs to do is to present a historical lesson on how the bases came to be there. “Amazingly“ not many foreign diplomats are “experts”on Cyprus history!
This historical lesson should be officially presented as an information manual to all embassies in Cyprus. The circumstances under which the Cypriot leadership was forced to agree to accept the presence of sovereign bases in its land are relevant and not well known to people outside Cyprus.
A few days ago we had the spectacle of David Lammy (now Deputy Prime Minister of Britain and previously Foreign Secretary) explaining that Cyprus is a member of NATO and Britain was helping Cyprus on that basis.
It is a mistake to assume that people outside of Cyprus know these facts:
Cyprus was formally annexed under the British in 1914 and proclaimed a colony in 1925. Previous to that it had been administered by Britain since 1878.
In 1955 the Greeks of Cyprus (80%+ of the population) took arms against the British wanting to decide their future.
The British called the fighters terrorists and the majority of the free world called them freedom fighters. The British used the Turkish Cypriots(18%) to divide and rule. A number of Turkish Cypriots joined the security forces.
In February 1959 a formula was agreed for the creation of an “independent” Cyprus state. In agreeing to that, the British demanded the exclusion of certain areas that would remain under their control. The British handed over the island on the 16th of August 1960 but kept an area of 99 square miles as sovereign bases. At that point the British agreed to pay a serious amount of money for the use of roads and facilities outside the bases. Between 1960-65 they paid about 10m. pounds. They stopped paying after that because -according to them- “The Turkish Cypriots were no longer part of the Cypriot government”.
The bases continued to have their own police, legal system, courts etc.
When in 1973 the U.K. joined what we now know as E.U., they made sure that the rules of the Rome Treaty of 1957 -European acquis- would not apply in the sovereign land they have in Cyprus. This way, the 99 square miles were not in the E.U.(!)
In the original agreement of 1960 it is clearly stated that “in the event of the British abandoning the bases they will be returned to the Republic of Cyprus”. It is to be noted that from about 18.000 people living in the bases 11.000 are Cypriots.
The British did everything to maintain the status quo that the bases are sovereign.
De facto and De jure.
The Cyprus governments avoided to raise the illegality of the way that the bases remained in the hands of Britain for no good reason. The British bases are no protection against any Turkish aggression. 1974 proved that.
Recent events prove that the present situation is not sustainable or safe.
With cool heads and armed with the decision of the ICJ as regards the return of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius a lot can be achieved.
The ICJ (International Court of Justice) decisions are not binding. The fact remains that Britain was forced to -eventually- abide by the decision and David Lammy (then Foreign Secretary) negotiated the return of Chagos Islands to the rightful owners.
The Republic of Cyprus was represented at the proceedings of the ICJ by the then Attorney General Costas Clerides.
In a recent interview with the RIK he explained the reasons why the Cyprus government should negotiate a better arrangement with the U.K.
- P.S. The 6 page decision on Mauritius is available on the ICJ website (Legal consequences of the separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965)