Greens: Let the people decide on SBA’s fate

GREENS party leader George Perdikis has called for a nationwide referendum to decide whether the SBA (Sovereign British Bases) should stay or go.

An outspoken opponent of the bases’ presence on Cypriot soil, Perdikis believes that the result of such a referendum would be overwhelmingly in favour of the SBA’s closure. That in turn would put considerable pressure on the British.

Asked whether a referendum could reverse the Foundation Agreement governing the presence of the bases on the island, Perdikis told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that it would at least be a first step, as it would make the international community sit up and take notice of the issue.

The 1960 London-Zurich agreement establishing the Republic, also gave the British – one of the guarantor powers – sovereign territories at Akrotiri and Dhekelia.

“We are realistic… the bases will not close down on the day after the referendum. But it will set things in motion.”

Perdikis’ rationale is that the British would be hard-pressed to ignore the result of such a referendum, given they used a similar referendum on Gibraltar to justify their presence in the Iberian peninsula.
However, he conceded there was little to no response from other parties or the government, which is currently unwilling to “open new fronts” in foreign policy.

The issue resurfaced in the wake of media reports late last week that a British Navy ship was hunting for oil in Cypriot waters. The British Ministry of Defence denied the story, saying the ship was merely conducting oceanographic studies.

According to the Foundation Agreement, the British bases on the island have territorial waters, but a clause prohibits them from using resources present in the waters.

For its part, the government has not yet lodged a formal complaint on the activities of the HMS Enterprise, saying it is still looking into the event.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.