By Jean Christou
THE CABINET yesterday authorised the Foreign Ministry to put the official seal on a memorandum of understanding that allows the British army to use a National Guard firing range for its exercises instead of the sensitive Akamas peninsula.
The memorandum, which was agreed last April but not signed, allows the bases to use the firing range at Kalo Chorio once a year between August 10 and 19, instead of the 70 days per annum they were allowed to use the Akamas.
But according to government spokesman Michalis Papapetrou, who announced the cabinet’s decision to formalise the memorandum, either side will be able to terminate the agreement with three months’ notice if they so wish.
The bases held their first exercises at Kalo Chorio near Larnaca last August; they passed off without incident, according to a spokesman at the British High Commission.
But Green Party spokesman George Perdikis said yesterday the memorandum of understanding had to be looked at both environmentally and politically.
“Speaking as far as the environment is concerned, we can say it is good news of course. As far as politics are concerned, our way of thinking is that British manoeuvres should stop altogether and that the British should withdraw from Cyprus,” Perdikis said.
He said his party would be looking closely at the agreement to see if it infringed in any way on the independence and integrity of the Cyprus Republic by allowing British troops to use a National Guard firing range.
For years, environmentalists had been trying to put a stop to British war games in the Akamas, which has been earmarked as a national park. Persistent protests by environmentalists and anti-bases activists forced Nicosia and London to seek an alternative to the Akamas for live-fire exercises by British forces.
The Cyprus army had made clear its misgivings about allowing the British access to Kalo Chorio, and the agreement does not mean that Britain has given up the right to use the Akamas for exercises – a right guaranteed by the 1960 Treaty of Establishment that granted Cyprus its independence.
Under the treaty, the British army is allowed to use appropriate territory outside the Sovereign Base Areas it retains for exercises for up to 70 days a year.
The bases consistently claimed that use of the Akamas had been reduced to about 30 days in recent years, and sometimes even less.
Local protestors have in recent years become increasingly daring in their protests, often entering the Akamas during live firing exercises and refusing to leave.
The memorandum of understanding also provides that British forces cannot use the Akamas for as long as the agreement lasts. Only light artillery can be used on the Larnaca range, and British troops will not be allowed to stay overnight on the site. The National Guard will be allowed to observe the exercises.
