Natives Revolting in Cyprus

[soddim]

Protests at Akrotiri

Clashes as demo calls for British troops to leave Cyprus (http://famagusta-gazette.com/clashes-as-demo-calls-for-british-troops-to-leave-cyprus-p14036-69.htm)

[goudie]

There was a time when the Cypriot economy
relied heavily on British servicemen/women and their families.
I'm sure we must pay the Cypriot Government for the use of the SBA's but
now that it's mostly a tourist/holiday based economy, politics aside, understandably they don't really need us as much as we need the bases.

[Pontius Navigator]

What's new, they always were.

They also relied on us to provide a safe haven.

[kenparry]

I'm sure we must pay the Cypriot Government for the use of the SBA's

Probably not. They are "Sovereign Base Areas" - i.e. they remained British territory when the rest of Cyprus became independent.

[AARON O'DICKYDIDO]

;)

I think the SBAs are on a 99 year lease. So about 47 years remaining.

Aaron.

[diginagain]

They should be careful what they wish for; the locals were keen to demonstrate outside our barracks their wish for troops to go home. Then, shortly after Reunification, they were back protesting at redundancies for the same locals who were employed in those same barracks, and the accommodation of Osties in barracks and MSQ/OSQ .

[Green Flash]

Seems an odd thing to protest about, given the local employment that the SBA's provide, Greece going down the tubes, recession cutting the holiday trade, etc. Local elections, maybe?

[Courtney Mil]

Chris Kebab ans Sylvanas still need us! The bases employ a lot of local people and all those service families put a lot into the local economies. We have between 3 and 4,000 personnel there at any one time (depending what's going on), but we have never paid for them as far as I know. In fact that is one of the issues with the Cypriot Government; that and the fact that they want all foreign forces off their soil.

In truth we actually own less than half of the land in the SBAs, most belongs to locals and is used for farming - all those orange groves and grape vines you see there!

The new government definately want us out - it's a remnant of the Empire from 1960 that we just decided to keep (looking at it from their perspective). Problems are, we're cutting defence costs, but Akrotiri is is our only permanent RAF base in the Med. It's proved very useful to us ove the years.

[Green Flash]

Not just usefull to the UK either. I would imagine that if we walked out Uncle Sam would walk in. It's a very very VERY handy bit of well placed real estate in world politic terms. Weather balloons, and all that .....;)

[SASless]

Seems you Brits have a great ability to be shown the door by indigenous folks!:E

[Seldomfitforpurpose]

indigenous

SAS,

Total respect for you guy, which tribe are you from :ok:

[4Greens]

They wanted me out fifty years ago - what is new?

[diginagain]

Seems you Brits have a great ability to be shown the door by indigenous folks!
As did your George Armstrong Custer.

[PingDit]

I don't suppose the demonstrators were from that little known Turkish 'Let's take over the rest of the island' movement?

[airborne_artist]

4Greens They wanted me out fifty years ago - what is new?

Luckily they were revolting in 1958 - Mere and Pere Artist met, married and made me there :E

[Tiger_mate]

Nicosia Airport is still owned by the MoD (RAF) perhaps we should expand!

It is such a waste. Inside info from the expat community tells me that said expats are leaving in abundance because the Euro has deleted the ability to sit in the sun forevermore based upon a UK, and mostly service, pension. Utility bills went up 30% overnight when the Cypriot Pound was binned in favour of the Euro. Negative equity is the norm, and the only thing keeping many in situ in the hope of economic recovery.

When poverty hits; anarchy reigns supreme; witness London last year. The SBA enclaves are an easy target that give local Govt some breathing space. I suspect that the eastern sector could well fall back to Akrotiri as a gesture. Not that I can really see any benefits to the locals by doing so.

[lj101]

Tiger

The UNFICYP website writes that that during the Second World War, the Airport saw heavy use as it served as a RAF Station.
“It opened as a commercial airport two years after the end of the War, in 1947, but the area surrounding the airport itself remained the location for the Air Station.
After Cyprus gained independence in 1960, the airport and its surrounding area were transferred to the Cyprus Government. The airport itself, including the tower, was staffed and run by Greek Cypriots, and was the island’s only international airport.
The RAF continued to occupy part of the site, known as the RAF Nicosia Retained Site: this British “retained site” status gave the United Kingdom the right to exercise exclusive control over the designated area in an emergency. In addition, three former RAF camps close to the airport shared facilities with UNFICYP after the Force’s establishment in March 1964.
The airport facilities were expanded with a new terminal building in 1968. The runways served both military and civilian aircraft, and until July 1974, Nicosia International Airport was welcoming a strong tourism trade.
On 23 July, fighting between Turkish and Greek forces was especially fierce in the airport vicinity. The Force Commander at that time, General Prem Chand from India, ordered UNFICYP to take over the airport, declaring it a United Nations Protected Area. United Nations Headquarters in New York gave its immediate approval, and, with the agreement of the local military commanders of both sides, UNFICYP troops (from Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom) occupied the airport under the following conditions:
The UNPA included the whole of the airport complex, including the premises of RAF Nicosia and the UN camps. Neither side was to approach within 500 metres of this perimeter. When ceasefire lines were drawn on 16 August 1974, the area declared as a United Nations Protected Area (UNPA) was included within the buffer zone.
In keeping with UNFICYP’s mandate to maintain the status quo, the airport has remained a United Nations Protected Area since 1974.
Time and weather have led to structural deterioration to the terminal building and to the Cyprus Airways Trident Sunjet passenger plane resting beside it: the plane’s engines were stripped during the crisis in 1974, and used to repair another Cyprus Airways airplane to enable the latter plane to fly out.
Extensive efforts were made during 1993 and 1994 to reach an agreement on a series of confidence-building measures aimed at spurring a return to normal conditions on the island. A key element in the action was an attempt to reopen Nicosia International Airport for the equal benefit of both communities.
By mid-1994, however, agreement on the measures remained beyond reach and despite further talks between both communities, the airport remains closed”.
Nicosia International Airport’s modern terminal was designed by Germans and constructed by the Cypriot company ”Cybarco”. It was inaugurated by the late President of the Republic Archbishop Makarios III in March 1968.
Modern buildings were constructed in the airport grounds while the runways and hangar were widened. The main runway was 2.958 metres long and 45 metres wide while the second was 1.825 metres long and 45 metres wide. The last figures obtained in 1973 indicate that a total of 14.717 departures and arrivals took place at NIC and a total of 785.564 passengers traveled to and from the airport.
Only three flights took place after the Turkish invasion. Two departures involved the two remaining Cyprus Airways aircraft that needed to be evacuated from the NIC and the third departure was that of former UN Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim’s aircraft following the conclusion of his visit to Cyprus. The UN continues to use the airport.

This cut and paste from an article so I cannot guarantee the content but seems to be accurate on first look. Happy to be corrected.

[Tiger_mate]

I was recently tasked within the UNPA and in particular the airport. Having seen it at first hand I followed up my visit with a little research. Wiki whilst not at all guaranteed for 100% accuracy, do reflect what I saw at first hand.

Nicosia International Airport - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicosia_International_Airport)

In short, the terminal was built for wide body jets (TriStar and DC10) and purely on numbers of movements, the military side reduced in significance. Today the Argentinians are based there with Hughes 500 & UH1 helicopters. It is, as you would expect, a ghost town; although a British Army enclave is to be found within the grounds. Sufficient time has passed that the no-mans land has become 'normal', and I dare say it would take Govt officials some time to establish who actually owns it in a legal sense. You would think that in the 21st Century, nations could set aside there differences for mutual economic benefit. However my experience recently also showed that dislike & distrust is as exatant as ever it was. There is still turkish owned land in the south that developers are not allowed to build on.

[500 above]

Bases violence condemned - Cyprus Mail (http://m.cyprus-mail.com/sba/bases-violence-condemned/20120104)

Brits leaving Cyprus would not benefit the local economy. The SBA creates many jobs. Uncle Sam wouldn't be too pleased either, where would Snoop 1 & 2 go...

[reynoldsno1]

When the British forces left Malta, many of the locals hoped to continue working for the NAAFI ... I didn't have the heart to tell them ....:(