How Cyprus constitutes a “switch” for nuclear holocaust and for this reason has entered the sights of the Iranians, is reported by a multitude of rumors circulating on the Megalonisos.
And although nothing is confirmed by official statements, there are indications that in the British base of Akrotiri there are nuclear weapons.
More specifically, according to official data from the collections of the Royal Air Force Museum, the base RAF Akrotiri was not simply a strategic airfield, but the “heart” of the nuclear deterrence of the West at a time when the Cold War was reaching its peak.
The archives are more than clear. Although the base at Akrotiri operated as an operational airfield in July 1955, its real purpose began to unfold in 1956.
More specifically, the base was designed to serve as the forward outpost of the notorious V-bomber detachments, the aircraft whose sole mission was the dropping of nuclear bombs.
The element that causes awe, however, is the confirmation that the permanent deployment of nuclear weapons in Akrotiri “had not become a reality in the early 1960s”.
So did it happen afterwards? We wonder.
If something like this is true, Cyprus was transformed overnight into a “nuclear warehouse”, ready to unleash destruction in the Middle East and the then Soviet Union, making the Cypriot people an immediate target of retaliation in the event of a general conflict.
The base became the permanent headquarters of the English Electric Canberras, the aircraft that would carry death from the air.
The photographs of Mr Charles Edward Brown, which are included in the collection, capture the eerie calm above a base that hid within its depths the power to annihilate entire cities.
What the United Kingdom had stated
There are no nuclear weapons in the British bases in Cyprus, a representative of the British Ministry of Defence had stated in 2000.
According to the Cyprus News Agency, the British representative stated that the aircraft using the bases do not carry nuclear weapons, but had refused to comment on 30 year old British documents that were released to the public over the weekend and stated that the defense of Britain “ultimately relies on global nuclear deterrence, part of which are the forces of the United Kingdom in Cyprus”.
The documents also stated that, in 1969, military aircraft based in Akrotiri carried nuclear bombs.
At that time, President Clerides had confirmed that there may have been nuclear weapons stored in the British bases in the past, but said that the government of Cyprus had not been informed.
Clerides had pointed out that there had been a period during which the government had some indications that there were possibly nuclear weapons in the bases, but added that “things have changed”.
Ignition
Today, with the tension between the United States, Iran and Israel hitting “red”, these revelations acquire terrifying significance.
Cyprus, being within the radius of geopolitical tremors, remains the critical hub for the operations of the Great Powers.
The question hovering over the Mediterranean is relentless. Can history repeat itself?
When the bases at Akrotiri have already hosted nuclear weapons in the past, who can guarantee that the Megalonisos is not once again at the center of a plan that goes beyond national governments and touches the limits of global destruction?
The “bold” stance of countries of Europe, such as Spain, which refuse to become accomplices in war adventures, highlights the enormous risk undertaken by countries that host such infrastructure.
Akrotiri may be a ticking bomb in the foundations of the Eastern Mediterranean.
Perhaps this is also why this accumulation of military deterrence forces is being observed. with Turkey remaining silent, in contrast to other cases.
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