The UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, concluded his trip to Cyprus with a visit to the British Bases in Akrotiri. Following what was described as a celebratory bilateral meeting with President Christodoulides, Starmer expressed gratitude to the staff at the Bases, noting that they had been “extraordinarily busy this year.”
He added that “some of the work carried out at the Bases cannot be disclosed.” These remarks came after statements made by the two leaders at the Presidential Palace, particularly President Christodoulides’ assertion that “the outcome of our discussions was the decision to turn a new page in relations between the UK and the Republic of Cyprus.”
According to reports, the President briefed the British Prime Minister on the Cyprus issue, the informal meeting in New York, and emphasised the UK’s significant role as a guarantor power, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, and a drafter of UN resolutions. However, the President’s rhetoric sounded as though he were referring to a different country altogether.
Similarly, Starmer highlighted his own intention to deepen ties, stating that “the already strong partnership between our countries is historically rooted in our people-to-people connections over many years.” He also mentioned “shared interests” and “close cooperation,” as though describing relations with entirely different nations.
One cannot help but question what this “new page” promised by the President entails, especially when welcoming the British Prime Minister beneath the colonial crest still prominently displayed 64 years after independence at the entrance to the Presidential Palace. Does this “new page” include the British Bases? After all, smaller nations like Mauritius have gone as far as the International Court of Justice to free themselves from British presence. Was this matter even discussed during this supposedly historic visit? Did the President raise the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion of 25 February 2019, to which Cyprus contributed?
Probably not. Yet this advisory opinion was historic—it compelled Britain to negotiate with Mauritius over sovereignty issues. After 13 rounds of negotiations and international pressure, the UK agreed to relinquish sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, ending decades of disputes over Britain’s last African colony. Negotiations began in 2022, following recognition of Mauritius’ arguments by the ICJ, the UN General Assembly, and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.
The UK, accused of crimes against humanity for forcibly removing Chagos Islanders in the 1960s and 1970s to establish joint military bases with the US, had ensured the islands were separated before Mauritius gained independence in 1968. Initially defying UN votes and judicial rulings, Britain eventually announced an agreement on 3 October 2023. Under the terms, the UK retains control over the Diego Garcia military base for a 99-year period, exercising “sovereign rights,” but Mauritius regained sovereignty over the rest of the islands.
Even so, Mauritius achieved what Cyprus continues to avoid: a substantive discussion on sovereignty. In Cyprus, any debate on the status of the British Bases is carefully avoided, despite the fact that British sovereignty over them should not be acknowledged if the UK’s obligations towards the Republic of Cyprus remain unfulfilled. Instead, our leaders, including the “modern” President Christodoulides, appear content to socialise with their British counterparts, who treat the Bases as their own territory.
Before turning this “new page” and crediting the Foreign Office or British leadership with goodwill on other issues, we must address the unfinished business of incomplete decolonisation. Especially now, when countries from Mauritius to Northern Ireland and the Caribbean are actively seeking to free themselves from British influence.
What about us?
