Protesters in Greek Cyprus call for end to US military presence

Demonstrators gathered in the city of Larnaca on Sunday, demanding the removal of U.S. military forces from Southern Cyprus and an end to the growing military cooperation between the US and the Greek Cypriot administration. The protest took place outside the Centre for Land, Open-Sea, and Port Security (CyCLOPS), with participants including local tradesmen and residents.

Tradesmen and some residents in the region also joined the demonstrators.

A statement by Greek Cyprus’ peace council expressed its solidarity with the people of Palestine and Lebanon, demanding an end to the war in the region for peace, security, and stability in the Middle East.

Speaking to the demonstrators, Stefanos Stefanou, secretary-general of the leftist AKEL party, said they opposed the island becoming a war base, espionage center, and military training area against neighboring states.

Stefanou said infrastructure, ports, airports, land, and airspace of Greek Cyprus are intended to serve the people of Southern Cyprus, not the Americans, Israelis, or any third party.

Military cooperation between Greek Cyprus and the U.S. has increased in recent years, criticized by Türkiye and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

Decades-long Cyprus issue

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the U.N. to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.

In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece’s annexation of the island led to Türkiye’s military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the TRNC was founded in 1983.

It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece, and the U.K.

The Greek Cypriot administration entered the EU in 2004, the same year that Greek Cypriots single-handedly blocked a U.N. plan to end the longstanding dispute.