UK bases in Cyprus ‘non-negotiable’, armed forces minister says

The armed forces minister has dismissed doubts about the future of Britain’s bases in Cyprus, after the island’s president called for talks about their status once the Iran war is over.

Al Carns insisted that “the legal status of the sovereign base areas is rock solid” amid suggestions Cyprus could urge the UK to cede sovereignty over Akrotiri and Dhekelia.

Tensions rose after an Iranian-made drone struck RAF Akrotiri last month and there was a delay in Britain dispatching a warship to help protect the island.

HMS Dragon arrived in the eastern Mediterranean more than three weeks after the Royal Air Force base was hit by a Shahed-136 drone, an attack that raised concerns in Cyprus that hosting the bases could pose a threat to the island’s security.

Ahead of talks with the Cypriot government, Mr Carns told The Telegraph: “What we’re seeing because of the threat that has been posed, for the first time in a long time is the Cypriots, the Brits and other allies coming together to work on an integrated plan to defend the capabilities here.

“I think we’ll see a lot of positives. We can understand some of the frictions but the reality is the legal basis of these sovereign territories is non-negotiable.”

Last month, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides called for “open and frank discussion” about the two British bases, which he said were a “colonial consequence”.

“When this situation is over in the Middle East, we are going to have an open and frank discussion with the British Government,” he said.

“We have more than 10,000 Cypriot citizens within the British bases, we have a responsibility for these people.”

Akrotiri and Dhekelia are British sovereign territory under a treaty signed on Cypriot independence in 1960.

Britain has used the bases to conduct operations in the Middle East, with RAF jets flying sorties from the island to protect against Iranian drones.