Britain says willing to surrender part of bases in Cyprus after solution found

Britain is willing to surrender to the Republic of Cyprus a significant part of its sovereign bases on the island in the context of a settlement of its problem, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said Friday.

"That offer remains on the table and we hope that it will add to the economic benefits of a settlement being concluded," Hammond said at a joint press conference with his Cypriot counterpart Ioannis Kasoulides.

Hammond paid a one-day visit to Britain's former colony and had talks with Kasoulides on bilateral and regional issues. He also met with Cypriot president Nicos Anastasiades.

Both Hammond and Kasoulides said the two countries cooperate very closely on security issues, most notably on fighting the Islamic State, which Hammond described as "a particular threat in the eastern Mediterranean."

British Tornado planes fly daily sorties out of its Cyprus Akrotiri air base against Islamic State fighters in Iraq.

Hammond said Britain is not seeking any special role in a post-solution Cyprus, but would do what it could to help the leaders reach a settlement.

"If we are asked to perform a role, we will of course try to do so in a way that helps and supports a solution," he said, adding that Britain has a special interest for a positive outcome as it is home to large communities of Greek and Turkish Cypriots.

The leaders of the two communities are engaged in negotiations for the reunification of Cyprus, which was split when Turkey occupied part of the island responding to a coup engineered by the Greek junta in 1974.

Britain retained two separate sovereign bases when it granted independence to Cyprus in 1960, totaling 254 square km, or 3 percent of the island.

The offer to surrender part of this territory is meant to facilitate a solution by adding about 1 percent to the area under the control of the Greek Cypriot community.

Turkish troops occupied 37 percent of Cypriot territory now controlled by Turkish Cypriots and negotiations aim at territorial adjustments to bring this territory down to about 29 percent.

Turkish Cypriots made up 18 percent of the Cypriot population in 1974, but their numbers have been beefed up by an influx of mainland Turkey settlers. Endit