Well, if there ever was a time to demand that the British army leave Cyprus, it’s now — it is an antiquated remnant of colonialism, which now puts all people living in Cyprus at risk. But other than that, there are a few more things to consider, which I outline below.

First, the British are not able to defend their own military bases, evident by the strikes. Therefore, the fact that they entered this war by allowing the US planes to attack Iran from Cyprus, raises the risk for all of us, as they are unable to provide any security guarantees.

Second, the decision to basically render Cyprus at direct risk of an Iranian attack was taken without any consultation with the Republic of Cyprus. Like the colony that we used to be and in some ways still are. As a Cypriot this makes me feel like a subject.

Third, the SBAs in their announcements mostly referred to their own personnel, blatantly ignoring the neighbouring communities and the Cypriot society in total which are affected by their decision to enter this war and attract bombs and drones from Iran.

Fourth, the Republic of Cyprus has proven unable to do three key things.

  1. The RoC’s air defence systems were evidently unable to trace and apprehend the recent threads, raising concerns about the adequacy and competency of such systems and their handlers.

  2. Communication and action on behalf of the authorities is lacking: there was no mass messaging to inform neighbouring communities of the events that unfolded, and reportedly the civil defence response was not timely and/or adequate (note: I don’t have first hand knowledge of this).

  3. The President didn’t say much in his statement, being unwilling and/or unable to take action towards protecting the security of Cypriots. He did not utter a word about the actions of the British, and did not engage in diplomatic efforts to reverse the decision to attack Iran from Cyprus.

All in all, we are not in a good place right now. The traditional Cypriot attitude of docile acceptance of anything and everything is not working to our favour. Plus, we cannot rely on any official structures for our security, which is a sobering and long-overdue realisation.