AGL 38.65 Increased By ▲ 1.08 (2.87%)
AIRLINK 132.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.50 (-0.38%)
BOP 5.60 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.71%)
CNERGY 3.85 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (2.12%)
DCL 8.73 Decreased By ▼ -0.14 (-1.58%)
DFML 40.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.25 (-0.61%)
DGKC 88.97 Decreased By ▼ -1.19 (-1.32%)
FCCL 35.31 Increased By ▲ 0.23 (0.66%)
FFBL 66.45 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.08%)
FFL 10.55 Increased By ▲ 0.40 (3.94%)
HUBC 109.60 Increased By ▲ 3.20 (3.01%)
HUMNL 14.66 Increased By ▲ 1.26 (9.4%)
KEL 4.83 Decreased By ▼ -0.03 (-0.62%)
KOSM 7.07 Increased By ▲ 0.22 (3.21%)
MLCF 42.60 Increased By ▲ 0.80 (1.91%)
NBP 59.50 Increased By ▲ 0.92 (1.57%)
OGDC 183.92 Increased By ▲ 2.67 (1.47%)
PAEL 25.70 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
PIBTL 5.93 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (1.72%)
PPL 147.99 Decreased By ▼ -0.41 (-0.28%)
PRL 23.50 Increased By ▲ 0.28 (1.21%)
PTC 16.43 Increased By ▲ 1.19 (7.81%)
SEARL 69.21 Increased By ▲ 0.42 (0.61%)
TELE 7.25 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.14%)
TOMCL 36.13 Increased By ▲ 0.13 (0.36%)
TPLP 7.58 Increased By ▲ 0.18 (2.43%)
TREET 14.19 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.35%)
TRG 50.90 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.1%)
UNITY 26.88 Increased By ▲ 0.48 (1.82%)
WTL 1.22 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.83%)
BR100 9,818 Increased By 50.7 (0.52%)
BR30 29,825 Increased By 425.1 (1.45%)
KSE100 92,324 Increased By 386.3 (0.42%)
KSE30 28,806 Increased By 62.4 (0.22%)

LIMASSOL: About 300 peace protesters rallied on Sunday outside Britain’s Akrotiri military base in Cyprus, charging it is fuelling regional conflicts in Gaza and Yemen.

The demonstrators demanded the closure of military bases that have been under British control since the eastern Mediterranean island nation’s independence in 1960.

They carried a banner demanding a “Ceasefire Now” in the Israel-Hamas war raging in the Palestinian territory since October 7 while another read “Stop funding genocide”.

Some online reports in Britain have pointed to UK and US military flights from Akrotiri to Tel Aviv and charged they were carrying military supplies for Israel.

A British defence ministry spokesperson told AFP that “British Forces Cyprus continue to support the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza and no RAF flights into Israel have transported any lethal cargo”.

The spokesperson also said that a British naval vessel “with the support of British Forces Cyprus, delivered 87 tonnes of UK and Cypriot aid to Egypt for the people of Gaza”.

Police stood between the protesters and the gates of the Royal Air Force Akrotiri base, a British overseas territory near the southern coastal city of Limassol.

The head of the Cyprus Peace Council, Tasos Kosteas said at the demonstration: “Cyprus is a living example that military bases do not solve problems, do not provide stability and security, but intensify militarisation and perpetuate tension.”

Israel detains two sisters of killed Hamas leader Aruri

The march was organised by the Cyprus Peace Council and supported by the leftist opposition party AKEL, the group United For Palestine and other leftist groups.

A United For Palestine activist, Leandros Fischer, a professor from Limassol, said the base was also used in recent US and British bombing of Yemen’s Huthi rebels, after the Iran-backed group had attacked ships in the Red Sea.

Fischer said that protesters also voiced “opposition to the very presence of British bases on Cyprus’ soil” and that they make the island “a potential target”.

Vera Polycarpou, AKEL’s head of international relations, 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.”

The Gaza war was sparked by Hamas’s unprecedented attack of October 7 on southern Israel, which resulted in about 1,140 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel in response vowed to destroy Hamas and launched a relentless military campaign that the Gaza health ministry says has killed nearly 24,000 people, most of them women and children.

Comments

Comments are closed.