FOR 70 years, RAF Akrotiri has been, in the words of the Ministry of Defence itself, “more than just a strategic staging post in the Mediterranean.” The colonial base on Cyprus has facilitated the violence of the Anglo-American empire, and it has granted the US an easy and wholly unaccountable foothold in the region from which it has been able to project its imperialist power. On its 70th anniversary, we demand that the deadly colonial base of RAF Akrotiri be shut down.

1878-1955

Cyprus was part of the Ottoman Empire until 1878, when it became a British protectorate, as part of the Cyprus Convention. Here, it acted as a key node in the British empire’s extraction routes. Cyprus was located in convenient proximity to India, the Suez Canal, and the Eastern Mediterranean. Between 1914 and 1925, it was annexed by the British and used as a naval hub during the first world war. In 1925, it became an official British Crown Colony.

1955-60

In July 1955, 30 Royal Air Force soldiers were posted to Akrotiri, a short peninsula on the southernmost tip of the island, to establish a facility to ease the crowding of RAF Nicosia.

Early on, RAF Akrotiri was configured as the storage and launch site for British nuclear weapons. In 1957, British Canberra nuclear-striking fighter jets arrived at Akrotiri, and just three years later, they had built facilities to store 16 Red Beards, Britain’s first nuclear bomb. Two Vulcan bomber squadrons were also deployed to Akrotiri. Aware of the likely reaction from the Cypriots, one RAF official wrote that “all possible measures should be taken in Cyprus to conceal the arrival and storage of [nuclear] bombs.”

These were quietly removed in 1975 in response to the Greek-Turkish war, and nuclear weapons haven’t been known to have returned since. Though as Britain moves to buy 12 F-35A nuclear-capable fighter jets equipped with US nuclear bombs, perhaps this run will end.

In 1956, British and French military flights took off on average every minute from RAF Akrotiri to bomb and drop paratroopers over Egypt during the Tripartite Aggression to attack President Nasser’s opposition to zionist colonisation and end the nationalisation of Egypt’s Suez Canal, seeking to retain their colonial control.

In the years following, Britain recognised threats to its overt colonial occupation of Cyprus, and perhaps fearing loss of its military outposts, it co-ordinated what became the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee. A significant stipulation in this so-called independence agreement given to Cyprus was for Britain to retain two Sovereign Base Areas in Akrotiri and Dhekelia. Yet, Britain retained RAF Nicosia for another six years as it was part of the “Near East Command.”

1960-2000

Britain’s retention of 3 per cent of Cyprus is critical for its imperialist interests across West Asia, both as a colonial power in its own right and to act on behalf of the US and Nato. As British colonial bases elsewhere in the region closed in the era of decolonisation, their focus became Cyprus.

In a 1971 report, recently revealed by Declassified UK, the MoD recognised “the continuation of the UK position in Cyprus” as Nato’s “strategic importance.” In particular, Akrotiri was seen as a “most valuable facility to maintain surveillance coverage of the Eastern Mediterranean.”

In August 1974, a US U-2 spy plane was deployed to RAF Akrotiri. With an additional one or two planes, they have been permanently stationed on the base ever since, carrying out routine spy missions over West Asia, and providing intelligence to “third-party governments,” we can say with high probability this includes Israel.

RAF Akrotiri was declared the British command site in the horrific invasion of Libya, which destroyed one of the richest countries in Africa for its Pan-Africanist, anti-imperialist politics, turning it into an exploited hub of slave trafficking. At the same time, Akrotiri was used as a launchpad to facilitate the US-led invasion of Afghanistan.

From 2014, Akrotiri was the site of British attacks on Iraq and Syria, housing at least eight Tornado fighter jets and six Typhoon jets, which were then refuelling by Voyager refuelling crafts as well as Akrotiri’s fuel depot directly. Akrotiri is a key site for refuelling.

The main fuel depot, the Petroleum Storage Depot, is located on the shoreline of Akrotiri, which can store up to 29 million litres of aviation fuel. This can fuel a Typhoon fighter jet more than 2,260 times. This refuelling role is significant as it multiplies the air power projection capabilities of the base, and allows it to support attacks in a much greater area.

2023-present

Since the Israeli occupation unleashed an escalated genocide against the Palestinian people of Gaza, RAF Akrotiri has become a key site in supporting the genocidal entity. Since October 2023, Britain has carried out over 500 surveillance flights over Gaza. This intelligence is almost certainly being provided to Israel to carry out its deliberate and targeted attacks on infrastructure in Gaza.

The Shadow R1, surveillance planes equipped with high-definition electro-optical and electronic sensors to gather data, take off from RAF Akrotiri. When we see targeted attacks on displaced people sheltering in schools, on hospitals, on journalists in tents, we must point to Britain as a belligerent for providing the intelligence.

Furthermore, Akrotiri has been used as a launchpad for the horrific Anglo-American attacks on Yemen. Bomber planes launched from Cyprus attacked Yemen in January and May 2024, as well as March 2025 and April 2025. Not only is Akrotiri used to facilitate Israel’s genocide in Gaza, but it is also used to bomb those who dare challenge it. Similarly, in June 2025, Britain sent six Typhoon fighter jets and Voyager refuelling planes to Cyprus to support US and Israeli attacks on Iran.

There are, right now, at least 14 British Typhoon fighter jets based at Akrotiri and over 4,000 British military personnel and their families residing there. On the 70th anniversary, the British military described it as an “immovable aircraft carrier.”

Without Akrotiri, it is improbable that Western attacks and surveillance across West Asia would be possible. The Ministry of Defence knew it in 1971, and they know it today. This is why there have been repeated attempts to silence questions about RAF Akrotiri’s role in Israel’s genocide.

While people in Britain are deliberately made unaware of the bases on Cyprus, groups in Cyprus have been protesting at Akrotiri for years against the use of the country as a military launchpad and against the British colonial occupation of the island. Without this organising and reporting, including from Matt Kennard and Declassified UK, the media and political elite would have succeeded in their secrecy.

Keir Starmer exposed this secrecy in 2024 in a visit to Akrotiri, where he said: “The whole world and everyone back at home is relying on you. Quite a bit of what goes on here can’t necessarily be talked about all of the time. We can’t necessarily tell the world what you’re doing.” Now, thanks to activists and journalists in Britain and Cyprus, the whole world is watching. We are watching and we are organising to shut RAF Akrotiri down. 

Nuvpreet Kalra is the digital content producer for anti-war organisation Codepink and the Bases Off Cyprus campaign co-ordinator — www.basesoffcyprus.org.