By Michele Kambas
NICOSIA, March 6 (Reuters) - A drone strike this week on a British air base in Cyprus has renewed calls for an end to British military presence on the Mediterranean island as many fear being dragged into the wider Iran conflict.
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.
But 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 Monday. No one was hurt, but the incident sent the island into high alert and forced nearby civilians to evacuate.
So far there are no concrete signs that Cyprus is going to ask for the bases to close. But growing calls for a review of the bases' status point to how the Iranian conflict has already complicated international relations across the region.
PRESIDENT: UK COMMENTS CAUSED 'IRRITATION'
At stake is not just the safety of Cypriots but also Britain's military presence overseas. Akrotiri and Dhekelia are among Britain’s most important military footholds and have supported operations across the Middle East for decades.
When asked if Cyprus would review the status of British bases, President Nikos Christodoulides told reporters on Friday that "There is nothing I can rule out."
Asked about the status of the bases, Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos, a former law professor, chose his words carefully: "I no longer have the luxury in life of just expressing my legal opinion about things," he told Reuters.
"Any decision on issues of this importance are not taken in the heat of the moment or during a crisis."
Phileleftheros, a pro-government daily, was more blunt: "The bases should take a hike. They are endangering our safety," wrote lead columnist Costas Venizelos in a leader on Wednesday.
The two bases, which cover about 99 square miles along the island’s southern and eastern coasts, are under full British jurisdiction. Known as a sunshine posting for its relaxed lifestyle, about 7,000 military personnel with their dependents live on the bases, and around 12,000 Cypriots in their immediate vicinity.
Cypriot officials were furious when over the weekend British Prime Minister Keir Starmer did not publicly rule out the use of the Cyprus bases in the U.S. and Israeli campaign against Iran, forcing a scramble of clarifying remarks by Britain that the island was not being used.
London later dispatched Defence Minister John Healey to Nicosia in an effort to calm tensions. President Christodoulides also met with the head of Britain's MI6 spy agency, Blaise Metreweli, on Friday, though it is not yet clear what was discussed.
"Yes, there was irritation" about Starmer's comments, Christodoulides told Greece's Skai TV in an interview late on Thursday.
CHAGOS ISLANDS A POSSIBLE PRECEDENT
Cypriot legal experts say the arrangements underpinning the bases should face renewed scrutiny under international law. The bases are the last vestige of colonialism, which is incompatible with the U.N. charter, they say.
For now, there is little indication London intends to reconsider their status.
"Our Sovereign Base Areas are fully legal under international law," a spokesperson for Britain's Ministry of Defence said.
Still, Britain’s 2025 agreement to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius after international courts ruled the UK's colonial-era separation of the islands unlawful, forms a precedent, Cypriot experts say.
"That implies something similar can and should be implemented in the case of Cyprus - that the bases be placed on a new footing fully compliant with international law,” Costas Clerides, a former Cypriot attorney-general and Supreme Court judge, said.
The debate is unlikely to go away. Cypriot officials privately seem unwilling to pick a fight while Cyprus' own conflict between Greek and Turkish Cypriots is unresolved.
"It's not that simple," one official said.
(Reporting by Michele Kambas in Nicosia and Sam Tabahriti in London; Editing by Edward McAllister and Andrew Heavens)
