CYPRUS IS not planning to pursue payment for the British military installations at this stage, a government source said yesterday.
The issue was mooted on Wednesday by the chairman of the economics advisory committee to President Tassos Papadopoulos.
Alexis Galanos said Britain owed Cyprus a lot of money for the military installations it has kept on the island since it gained independence in 1960.
According to Galanos, who could not be reached yesterday, Britain has not paid a penny since 1963, citing the constitutional crisis as the reason.
“They didn’t want to give us the money at the time because they did not want to distinguish between Greeks and Turks.
“Now (with a deal) there is no excuse,” Galanos told Reuters on Wednesday.
Galanos suggested the money could be used to overcome the heavy economic burden of possible reunification.
Britain along with the European Union and the United States are expected to play in important role in raising funds for the reunification.
The cost of reunification, including compensation for lost property and repairs is expected to reach at least £16 billion.
European Court of Human Rights Judge and former Attorney-general Loukis Loukaides suggested that Cyprus should have appealed to The Hague a long time ago.
In case of a solution the Turkish Cypriots should agree to this too, Loukaides told the Cyprus Mail.
And if there is no provision for the issue in the United Nations plan for the solution of the Cyprus problem, the British could argue that the agreement to make payments was done with a different state, he said.
“It is arguable,” he added.
The payments agreement is included in the Treaty of Establishment – Annex B, Part VI – without specifying the amounts.
This was also pointed out by former Attorney-general Alecos Markides who said the Treaty of Establishment – with a few changes – was included in the UN plan.
He added that the initial agreement held for £12 million to be paid in the first five years following independence but he was not sure if the money had been actually paid back then.
A British High Commission spokesman said that the issue had not been raised with them yet.
“We have not received a formal representation from the Cypriot government yet,” the spokesman said.
A government source however told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that there were no plans to pursue this issue at this point.
Galanos said his panel would recommend that Papadopoulos broach the issue in discussions with Britain.
Britain last year offered to hand back almost half of its 98 square-mile territory to Cyprus as part of a solution.
According to the proposal, presented by British special envoy Lord David Hannay, Britain would give up some 45 square miles in the event of a solution to the Cyprus problem.
The territory currently held constitutes three per cent of Cypriot territory.
Under the proposal, 90 per cent of the returned land would come under Greek Cypriot control with the rest going to the Turkish Cypriot community.
