Cyprus has been in the middle of conflict from forever, and that is because of its place on the map. And in the last decades, its territory was used to deploy fighter jets to help one country or another in the area.
But Cyprus territory was never under attack and the population here was not in real danger, at least not one to be made public so far. The last conflict to directly affect the island was the Turkish invasion in 1974, which left the country divided up to our days.
Because there are many rumors and fake info going o social media, in this article I will present you the facts that make me believe this land is a safe place to live on and it is a safe place to travel too.
Israel – Iran conflict, the last one to bring Cyprus back into attention
First let’s see from where the panic can start. The night sky was lit again by the missiles fired from Iran to Israel. And this was visible from all over the island and was reported by the people on social media.
From here to creating panic is just one small step.
It is true the authorities are on high alert, but this is absolutely normal when you have a military conflict at 200 km across the sea from you. Plus, we need to consider the number of people from Israel who live now on the island, as a direct consequence of the military conflict between Israel and Gaza.
But, so far, the life goes normal here on the island. Flights with tourists are coming, people are going to the beach, make their shopping and go to work and to school. Nothing has changed so far.
App shelter, bad timing or something to worry
Cypriot authorities have created a mobile app where we can find the shelters closes to us in case of emergency and they made this public middle of June, right after the conflict between Israel an Iran started.
Knowing how the things work here, I would say again that we have no reason to fear a real danger.
It doesn’t hurt to have on the phone, but from what I understand from the comments on social media, majority of the places mentioned there are not functional.
The name of the app is SafeCy and you can check out more about this in the local news, HERE
Cyprus has an operational “Iron Dome” system since March 2025
According to national Cyprus press – News Kathimerini -, the island has an operational air defense system, an upgrade of the famous Iron Dome, from Israel.
🔥 The system is called Barak MX, it is developed by Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI), is a major upgrade over the popular “Iron Dome” defense system.
🔥 The new system can launch and track multiple guided missiles simultaneously, including the Barak MR, which has a range of up to 35 kilometers, the Barak LR with a 70 km reach, and the long-range Barak ER, which can engage targets at distances of up to 150 kilometers.
🔥 This means it can creat a No Fly Zone over Cyprus, “locking” the Nicosia FIR (Flight Information Region), ensuring that any air threats are quickly neutralized.
🔥 Barak MX can protect against various aerial threats, including helicopters, drones, cruise missiles, airplanes, and even ballistic missiles.
Barak MX was bought in 2022, according to The Times of Israel. At that time, no details were made public.
British military bases in Cyprus, on British soil
Cyprus is not by itself anyway, because it has 2 British military bases and they are British soil, not Cypriot.
🔴 The big one is at Akrotiri, near Limassol. This one has also an airport and it is used as a base for airplanes.
And here we are talking about planes like Typhoons and air-to-air refuelers that can be deployed in case of necessity.
This base was used before to help in conflicts in the area.
🔹 “RAF Akrotiri is an extremely busy Permanent Joint Operating Base that supports ongoing operations in the region as well as support for the Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus. It is used as a forward mounting base for overseas operations in the Middle East and for fast jet training.
🔹 RAF Akrotiri’s Griffin helicopters also play an important search and rescue function in collaboration with the Republic of Cyprus Police and National Guard Air Command.
🔹 84 Squadron is based at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus.
🔹 The Squadron has been stationed overseas since 1920 and provides an invaluable fire fighting capability to the Sovereign Base Area and Cyprus territory.”
Info published on raf.mod.uk
Technical details about Akrotiri base and the activity here
🔹 2015 – £46m project to upgrade Akrotiri’s airfield infrastructure: resurfacing of the runway, taxiways and aircraft aprons and installation of ground lighting systems, drainage infrastructure and runway hydraulic arrestor gear. The project was completed in March 2017.
🔹 2018 – The station was used to support the missile strikes against Syria.
🔹 In June 2019, the station launched the RAF’s first Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II operational sortie. Six aircraft were deployed to take part in operations against Islamic State.
2020s
🔹 Flight logs indicated that UK military transport aircraft made numerous flights from Akrotiri to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport during the Gaza war. The reasons for the flights were unknown.
🔹 Four Typhoons based in Akrotiri Struck Houthi targets in Yemen on 12 January 2024.
🔹 The RAF reportedly assisted Israel during the April 2024 Iranian strikes on Israeli territory from jets that had taken of from RAF Akrotiri and were flying over Iraq.
🔹 During 2024, protesters demonstrated outside the base against the UK and US’ use of the base to support Israel in its genocidal actions in Gaza and Lebanon.
You can see more about RAF Akrotiri HERE
🔹 RAF Akrotiri was first constructed in the mid-1950s to relieve pressure on the main RAF station in the centre of the island, RAF Nicosia
🔹 The Sovereign Base Areas were created in 1960 by the London and Zürich Agreements, when Cyprus achieved independence from the British Empire.
🔴 The second British base is in Dhekelia
Dhekelia base consists of some 7 sq km and is the headquarters for the Eastern Sovereign Base Area, a resident infantry battalion, an engineer squadron, and various logistic units, as well as UK-based civilians and dependents – making a total British population of just over 1,500 people.
Cyprus military service and Cyprus army
🔹 Cypriot army was established in 1964, and it is called The National Guard. It has 12.000 people active personnel and 60.000 registered as reserve.
🔹 All the male population has to go to army for 14 months and many locals have guns in their houses, since the invasion from 1974.
🔹 The National Guard consists of the Army, Navy and Air Force.
If you want to know more about it, you can check the info on Wikipedia
FACTS
🔴 Cyprus is EU member
🔴 It has British bases and British soil
🔴 UK is part of NATO
🔴 Cyprus was used in the past years as a humanitarian corridor to evacuate people from conflict zone
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