Cyprus groups condemn UK’s Yemen bombing

Political groups in Cyprus on Friday condemned the United Kingdom’s use of its Akrotiri base in Cyprus to bomb Yemen.

In the early hours of Friday, the British government announced it had commenced strikes on the Houthi movement, a Shia Islamist organisation allegedly backed by Iran which controls much of the west of Yemen.

The Houthi movement had been attacking ships passing through the Red Sea in response to the west’s support for Israel.

The Green Party described the UK’s use of the Akrotiri base to carry out the attack as “dangerous”, and said it raises “serious questions”.

They added, “it is worth asking whether the risks that this poses, both for Cyprus as a country and for Cypriot shipping, have been assessed.”

They said the people of Cyprus are “worried by the information which has come to light” and added that there is “an urgent need to open, with due seriousness the debate on the end of the British bases.”

Meanwhile, the Cyprus Peace Council accused the United Kingdom and the United States, which has joined them in bombing Yemen, of “turning Cyprus into a war base at the expense of the peoples of the region.”

They added that the bombing carried out has “left Cyprus exposed”.

“The British government, with disdain for the danger it poses to Cyprus and the peoples of the region, gave the green light for imperialist attacks in Yemen, even letting it be understood that bombings will continue.”

“With the war in Gaza continuing and imperialist operations in the region now escalating, the danger of a wider war is now visible, with Cyprus at the eye of the storm,” they said.

They added that they “reiterate our long-standing position for the immediate termination of the presence of British bases in Cyprus.”

“The British bases are a remnant of the colonial regime, they cripple the independence, territorial integrity, and sovereignty of Cyprus and put the people of the region in constant danger, in violation of international law.”

They are set to hold a protest against the continued presence of the British bases in Akrotiri on Sunday at 11am.