A STUDENT protest against the British Bases turned violent last Friday when protesters used metal bars, stones and flares against Sovereign Base Area (SBA) police, injuring seven and causing one officer to lose his front teeth.
A spokesman for the newly formed protest group ‘Britain Reconsider’ said the intention was to protest peacefully against the SBA and Britain’s pro-Turkish stance on the Cyprus problem. Andreas Apostolou insisted that the ugly scenes only unfolded when SBA police provoked demonstrators by hitting them first.
Speaking to the Cyprus Mail yesterday, a Bases source questioned the peaceful intentions of the demonstrators given they had arrived at the protest with metal bars.
Around 120 people arrived outside RAF Akrotiri last Friday at around 7.45pm, in 60-odd cars from Nicosia and Limassol. According to the same source, the group was well organised and answered to the commands of one man using a megaphone.
On arrival, the protesters formed a group and walked towards the Akrotiri base. Police responded by pushing the youths back some 400m from the gate. The stand-off lasted almost an hour. Apostolou told reporters they wanted to reach the gate so they could hand over a prepared resolution but that police fought with them on the way.
TV footage of the protest showed the group marching towards the gate waving Greek flags and carrying a large banner with the words ‘This land does not want you’. No Cyprus flags were seen.
The mob chanted various slogans, including ‘Fire to the bases’ and ‘No more excuses’.
As the crowd neared the gate, a number of hooded men appeared out of nowhere and began kicking members of the SBA police. The scenes turned ugly as violence between police and protestors ensued. The demonstrators threw sticks, large stones and flares while metal bars were also used against police.
Fifty SBA police dressed in riot gear and a number of dogs were present. In total, seven police were treated for minor injuries, cuts and bruises, while two were taken to hospital with suspected broken bones. One police officer had his two front teeth knocked out. Three police cars were damaged in the melee.
A spokesman for the SBA, Captain Nick Ulvert, said they were prepared for a peaceful and legal protest to take place but that the 120 or so youths had resorted to “attacking police using a variety of rocks, metal bars and fireworks”.
“The police protected themselves responsibly and proportionately,” said Ulvert.
Another Bases source highlighted that the protesters had come with iron bars. “You don’t find iron bars lying around the Bases. They came prepared,” he said.
“I’ve seen 12 or 13 demonstrations since I came to the Bases but last Friday was the first time I saw a TV channel set up a live-feed truck before a protest. They must have been expecting something,” he added.
Asked whether the protest had been infiltrated by extreme right-wing elements from Greek-based group Golden Dawn (Chrysi Avgi), the source said: “Around 25 Golden Dawn members already had a protest last Wednesday outside the Bases. We didn’t recognise any of them on Friday. In fact from what we could see none of the protesters were recognisable from past demonstrations.”
Justice Minister Sophocles Sophocleous was quick to condemn the violent behaviour of the youth. He drew a line between organising a proper and peaceful campaign to get British Bases out of Cyprus and violent thuggish behaviour.
“I want to believe that they represent a small minority in this place where we have turned our backs to that kind of behaviour.”
The minister noted that Britain should eventually recognise the sovereign rights of the Cyprus Republic. “We are a small people but we demand respect.
“It is our political right to demand that the Bases leave. But are the Bases going to leave when hooded men behave like this? Or do you think the slogans they were chanting help our place? To what end were they behaving in that way? What was the purpose of damaging cars? Do they help? I say no,” said Sophocleous.
Presidential candidate and MEP, Marios Matsakis, used the event to take a swipe at the present government. Speaking from outside Akrotiri Base, to which he is no stranger, Matsakis described the violent episodes as “an expected result of the colonial and unacceptable policy of Britain and of the fact that our rulers have never ever raised the issue of the bases to the EU”.
“They haven’t done this because while they shout in Cyprus they go cowardly silent in Europe,” he added.
AKEL leader and presidential candidate, Demetris Christofias said everyone had a right to protest against the Bases’ presence but that when it turns violent, this does not help prepare the groundwork for them leaving.
Independent presidential candidate Costas Themistocleous also condemned “nationalist elements” within the protest and the slogans and perceptions voiced that “led to the destruction of Cyprus” in the past.
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