MARKULLI: ‘BRITISH BASES ARE NOT A SOVEREIGN STATE BUT AN ANOMALY’
Greek Cypriot Foreign Minister Erato Kozaku Markulli said that British Bases in Dhekelia and Akrotiri were determined as sovereign states in the treaty of establishment but British bases are an anomaly.
In her interview with Greek Cypriot daily Haravgi, Markulli said ‘British bases have been imposed on Cypriots by a colonial force w
hen there was not any state in Cyprus. I have no doubt that there is no need for bases in the 21st Century and especially in an EU country. We know the activities of the UN for years.
We are making initiatives to make the UN make cooperation with Cyprus Republic’s authorities. British bases are defined as sovereign states but they cannot use the region for their military aims as defending. In the news, it was expressed that British bases are used to provide intelligence to Syrian opponents that’s why; we made initiatives in the presence of UK’s Foreign Ministry and Defense Ministry.
At the moment, we are examining the content of their reply and the steps to be taken’.
Source:- TRNC Public Information Office
Historical footnote:-
In 1960, a treaty of establishment allowed Cyprus to become an independent Republic, free from British control. Within the agreement, two Sovereign Base Areas (SBAs) at Akrotiri and Dhekelia were identified as real estate that would remain as British sovereign territory and therefore remain under British jurisdiction.
Source; http://www.army.mod.uk/operations-deployments/22728.aspx