The Ministry of Defense of the United Kingdom has confirmed the fact that American aircraft fly to the airport of the British military base Akrotiri in Cyprus, but did not reveal information about the purpose of the visits of the American plane, the Cypriot newspaper Cyprus Mail reported with reference to the British Ministry of Defence.
The Cyprus Mail has contacted the British military following press reports that US aircraft have used British bases on the island to transport weapons and ammunition to Israel during the Gaza conflict. A spokesman for the UK Ministry of Defense “confirmed that US military aircraft have landed at the sovereign base with permission“ the British side, but “does not comment on the purpose of these flights”.
Republic of Cyprus government official Konstantinos Letimpiotis said amid reports of use of British bases by US aircraft that the government does not comment on third-party operations. He also emphasized that his country is not involved in any military operations.
Earlier, the leader of the Shiite Hezbollah party, Sheikh Hassan Nasrullah, warned official Nicosia that if reports of Israeli attempts to gain access to air bases in Cyprus were true, the island would “become an accomplice in hostilities” and military objectives for Hezbollah. there will be sites in the Mediterranean.
In early July, Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, who returned from a trip to London, said that Cyprus could be attacked by certain forces due to the fact that British military bases are located on the island.
After reports emerged that the Akrotiri base had been used to support attacks on the Gaza Strip, investigative journalism portal Declassified UK published a special report claiming that since the air force began bombing the enclave , the United States used unmarked C-295 and CN-235 aircraft to fly from the island of Cyprus to Israel. An investigation by Declassified UK found that since 7 October 2023, 18 such aircraft had flown from Akrotiri to Tel Aviv.
According to the influential Israeli newspaper Haaretz, which was also cited by the Cyprus Mail, by October 2023, more than 40 US transport planes carrying equipment, weapons and military personnel had departed Akrotiri for Israel, and that these planes contained cargo from US and NATO strategic warehouses in Europe.
Two major British military bases are located in Cyprus in accordance with the Zurich-London Agreements of 1959, according to which the United Kingdom, together with Greece and Turkey, is a guarantor of the independence, territorial integrity and security of Cyprus.