Cyprus’s Movement of Ecologists – Citizens’ Cooperation has hit out at a planned National Guard exercise in the Akamas peninsula, calling it unacceptable in an area of the highest ecological importance — but officials say no protected land will be touched and no live fire will be used.
The movement said it had warned the relevant authorities “in good time and in the most formal manner” that it would not accept military exercises in Akamas without protest, accusing the current government of being “worse than its predecessors” for failing to treat environmental protection as an obstacle to military activity.
Philenews sought clarification from the competent authorities, who confirmed the exercise is classified as low-intensity.
No military drills will take place within protected areas, no live fire will be used at any stage, and the exercise is limited to helicopter take-offs and landings from an existing helipad in the area. Any military vehicles approaching the site will travel on existing roads and dirt tracks already used by civilians and tourists.
The movement also referenced previous complaints over military exercises and environmental interventions in Natura 2000 sites in Nicosia district — at the Xyntous firing range — and in Larnaca district, near Lefkara, noting that foreign military personnel had reportedly taken part in those activities.
The movement called on the government to end the use of protected areas for military exercises and pointed to the decade-long campaign from 1990 to 2000 to stop British forces from conducting drills in Akamas under the Treaty of Establishment, describing any return to such use as unacceptable.