NICOSIA, June 10 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of Cypriots participated in a march on Sunday to the British RAF air base at Akrotiri, on the southern shores of Cyprus island, to deplore its use for military operations against countries in the region and demand its abolition.
The march was organized by the Cypriot Peace Council and was joined by peace movements from other countries.
The demonstrators, wearing T-shirts with peace slogans, gathered on the road from the Greek Cypriot village of Kolossi and walked four kilometers to the entrance to the base.
The most prominent speaker at the event was the leader of the main opposition AKEL party Antros Kyprianou. He said that AKEL believes the use of the British bases or other facilities on the island for military aims makes Cyprus a staging point for attacks and therefore part of the war against Syria and its people.
Akrotiri air base is one of two sovereign bases Britain retained when Cyprus gained its independence in 1960.
Cyprus said in April that it did not have either prior information or involvement in air strikes against Syria by planes which took off from a British base on the eastern Mediterranean island.
