Akrotiri, a ghost town in Cyprus due to the threat of war in the Middle East

The Cypriot town of Akrotiri was a ghost town on Tuesday. Tables were set in a tavern near the entrance to the Royal Air Force (RAF) base attacked by Iranian drones on Monday, apparently ready for diners; but the establishment remained firmly closed, giving it an eerie appearance. The same was true of the pizzeria, the Indian restaurant, and the various pubs that cater to the tastes of British soldiers.

“Most people have left,” explained the owner of a café where the only clients left were a couple of journalists, and which reopened Tuesday afternoon after Monday’s hasty evacuation. Andreas, the local butcher, was practically the only one resisting the instructions to leave the town. “Am I going to spend two days in a hotel? No way! What’s meant to be will be,” he said, speaking inside a shop with no customers.

Greece, France, and the United Kingdom have mobilized or are planning to send reinforcements to Cyprus, an EU member state, after Iran attacked one of the two military bases London maintains in the Mediterranean country with drones. These bases have been key to previous British military operations in the Middle East. Greece has also sent five aircraft and made it clear that it “will contribute with any means at its disposal to the defense of the Republic of Cyprus.”

Early Monday morning, an Iranian-made Shahed drone—allegedly shot from Lebanon, according to the Cypriot government—crashed on one of the runways at the Akrotiri airbase in the south of the island, causing no injuries and only minor damage. Two other drones traveling in the same direction were intercepted throughout Monday, and another was spotted over the civilian airport in Paphos, forcing its closure for a few hours.

Several villages near the airport were temporarily evacuated, and residents of Akrotiri, adjacent to the British air base, were instructed to leave and were relocated to nearby hotels. The evacuation order, the Home Office said, remains in effect until Friday, when the situation will be reassessed.

The Akrotiri base is not just a military installation, but also a territory. Together with the Dhekelia base in eastern Cyprus, it occupies nearly 3% of the island’s surface area, and both are considered by London to be “British Overseas Territories,” although the Republic of Cyprus disputes this sovereignty. “Look: at the end of the street is the United Kingdom, and up the street too; this is Cyprus. Half the town is British and the other half Cypriot, although here we are all Cypriots, that is, Europeans,” explains Tasos, a farmer, regarding the vagaries of territorial demarcation—a legacy of decolonization—in his village of Trachoni. His two grandchildren run and play at his feet. “Although this village hasn’t been evacuated, classes have been suspended. People are afraid, it’s true.” Constantina, who runs a café, confirms this: “Some neighbors have indeed left. There is some fear, but this is something between the Americans and the Iranians; it shouldn’t affect us.”

The Cypriot Interior Ministry published a guide on Tuesday recommending the preparation of an emergency kit with essential supplies “that can be easily transported to a shelter” if needed. The Ministry of Education has also sent letters to schools outlining protocols for responding to “incidents,” a move criticized by several local media outlets as creating panic among the population.

Although Tuesday went by without further incident, there was a certain amount of tension. Early in the morning, air raid sirens sounded again in Akrotiri, although it was later announced that it was a false alarm. Throughout the day there was normal vehicle traffic, and no fighter jets took to the skies. However, an A-400 Atlas military transport aircraft did land at the RAF base and took off again some time later. That evening, the roar of F-35 and Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets was heard as they took off from Akrotiri, reportedly to shoot down Iranian drones launched against Jordan, according to the Cypriot press.

Keir Starmer’s government also announced the deployment of the destroyer HMS Dragon along with two helicopters equipped with missiles designed to shoot down drones to protect Akrotiri, although the prime minister stressed that the base is not being used by the United States in its attacks on Iran.

The Iranian Embassy in Nicosia has neither confirmed nor denied its country’s role in the drone attack, but on Tuesday it issued a statement emphasizing that its relations with Cyprus “have historically been cordial and constructive” and that currently “there have been no changes” in that status. It also asserted that Iran “does not undertake offensive actions,” but rather that its actions are limited “to the inherent right of self-defense.”

Those who have already mobilized in support of Cyprus include Greece and France, which has announced the deployment of its nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle. Athens sent four fighter jets and a transport plane to the Andreas Papandreou air base, near Paphos airport, on Monday. Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias flew there on Tuesday to review the troops alongside his Cypriot counterpart, Vasilis Palmas. “Cyprus is not a distant country,” the Greek minister emphasized. “These are difficult times for our region. But Greece wants to make it categorically clear that it intends to provide Cyprus with any assistance it can, to the best of its ability.”

Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides explained that he has also requested assistance from the governments of France, Germany and Italy, and so far, Paris has pledged to send a frigate and anti-missile and anti-drone systems. Two Greek frigates are scheduled to arrive on the Cypriot coast on Wednesday, equipped with the Centauro drone neutralization system, which has already been tested in the Red Sea against drones used by the Houthis allied with Tehran. It has not gone unnoticed that one of the Greek frigates is named after Cimon, the 5th-century BC Athenian general whom Pericles sent to Cyprus to fight against the Persians.

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