At the end of July, I was incredibly fortunate to be given the opportunity as part of the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme to visit our British Forces in the Republic of Cyprus. I come away with a huge appreciation of the unique nature of this British Overseas Territory, its history and role of the East and West Sovereign Base Areas.
Now whilst we were out there, with temperatures topping 44 degrees, you would have seen in the media there were reports of wildfires. We saw the smoke plumes first hand and witnessed the efforts of our British troops to help quell the fires - using amongst other things the Chinook helicopter to drop water on the fires. This was a national emergency and our thoughts and prayers go to those who died and those who lost their homes.
Whilst out there, we were able to visit two operational deployments on the island, Operation TOSCA and Operation SHADER.
Operation TOSCA is the UK’s commitment to the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) and oversees the demilitarised Buffer Zone between the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. We visited the Buffer Zone and it was fascinating to see how this is polices in conjunction with other nations. It was very unique to see the Green Line and within that Nicosia International Airport, which is just a time piece from the 70s (abandoned for as long as my Parents have been married!)
Operation SHADER is the UK’s contribution to military intervention against ISIL, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant or Daesh. This is part of the Global coalition of 70 partners. The RAF provides humanitarian airdrops, reconnaissance and air strikes.
We also met the High Commissioner, Republic of Cyprus representatives and visited the Sovereign Base Area (SBA) police.
