“Our people don’t want you – take your bases and get out”
Cyprus Peace Council protest over the involvement of the British Bases in the war against Gaza
The protest march outside the British Bases at Akrotiri held yesterday by the Cyprus Peace Council (CPC) along with other peace-loving organisations and movements, denounced the air strikes carried out by the UK in support of the Israeli army’s military operations in the Gaza Strip.
A few days after the British attack on the Houthis in Yemen, launched by the UK from the British bases in Cyprus, hundreds of people present sent out the message that they are fighting to turn Cyprus into a bridge of peace and cooperation between the peoples, demanding the immediate dismantling of the Bases, which are a constant threat not just to the security of our homeland, but also to the peoples of our region.
The demonstrators shouted slogans such as “Out with the Bases of Death”, “Our people don’t want you, take your Bases and get out”, “Our only enemy is imperialism”, “Cyprus – Palestine Solidarity”, “Out Out Out – British Bases Out”, “Ceasefire Now” and “British Bases you can’t hide, you are committing genocide”. Banners said ‘Leave Cyprus out of your Imperialist plans’, ‘Stop Funding Genocide’ and ‘You Have Blood on Your Hands’.
In his speech, the President of the CPC, Tasos Costeas, said, inter alia, that “Cyprus is a vivid example that military bases do not solve problems, do not offer stability and security, but intensify militarisation and make tension permanent”. “We condemn the direct and now proven involvement of the US and Britain in the bombing of neighbouring countries. The bombardment of Gaza, under the pretext of Israel’s so-called right to self-defence, and the bombing of Yemen, under the pretext of piracy incidents in the Horn of Africa, without the permission of the UN Security Council, constitute serious violations of international law and crimes against the civilian population,” he added.
The demonstrators reiterated their demand for “an end to Cyprus’ involvement via the British Bases in the genocide being committed against the fraternal Palestinian people.”
A delegation of the CPC subsequently handed a memorandum to a representative of the British bases.
In statements to the AFP press agency Vera Polycarpou, Head of International Relations of AKEL, said “we’re demonstrating against the uses of the bases against the peoples of the region, against the bases’ presence in Cyprus. We want them to be dismantled.”