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[Don Kelley]

It took the British Military thickos and the Commonwealth Office a little time but eventually they realised that they did not need the whole island, just a base.

Cyprus’s turn would have come without the bloody struggle – go figure who lost most by the Eoka campaign.

There were then and still are several areas designated as SBAs although not as many today, these were agreed on when Cyprus gained independence, the Cypriots gained more fincialy out of these bases over the years than anyone.

[Don Kelley]

reply to Island girl
The Greek Cypriots claimed independence and got it in 1960 but then expected the British troops on the SBAs to continue policng the the island,

Up and until 1965 the Brits kept the arguing factions apart, in the end the UK said to the UN it is "your job you do it". the UN did it on a 6 month reviewal basis and sure as hell just before the 6 months was up they had a minor skirmish with each other which kept the UN in force spending yet more money alongside the money from the SBAs.
Halfway House UN compound on the Limassol/Nickosia/Larnaca road junction being a typical location of token attacks.
I was there at the time were you?

[Don Kelley]

The Turks were capable of taking the whole island from any point of the compass regardless of the SBAs .

Just shows how much you don't/didn't know of the capabilites existing on the SBAs at the time.
The Turkish forces like Saddams were just a rag bag army, ill equiped, illtrained, dissatisfied conscripts.
Have you been around any military conscripts in Turkey, busses are regularly stopped for deserter searches?
The Ghurkas didn't need to open fire the Turks knew they meant bussiness as they weren't running away like the Greek cypriots.

[Jerry]

It took the British Military thickos and the Commonwealth Office a little time but eventually they realised that they did not need the whole island, just a base.

Cyprus’s turn would have come without the bloody struggle – go figure who lost most by the Eoka campaign.

There were then and still are several areas designated as SBAs although not as many today, these were agreed on when Cyprus gained independence, the Cypriots gained more fincialy out of these bases over the years than anyone.

So? What's your point?

[Don Kelley]

... WHY WAS the mighty British Empire DEFEATED BY GRIVAS (the GREEK Cypriot hero) and EOKA.

Because they listened to Sir Winston Churchill.

"It is only natural that the Cypriot peoble who are of Greek descent, should regard their incorporation into their mother country as an ideal to be earnestly, devoutedly and fervently cherished."

They aren't Greek descent they are Arabs who were owned by the Egyptians.
Now how bad can that be to be owned by the Egyptians?

[Don Kelley]

It took the British Military thickos and the Commonwealth Office a little time but eventually they realised that they did not need the whole island, just a base.

Cyprus’s turn would have come without the bloody struggle – go figure who lost most by the Eoka campaign.

There were then and still are several areas designated as SBAs although not as many today, these were agreed on when Cyprus gained independence, the Cypriots gained more fincialy out of these bases over the years than anyone.

So? What's your point?

The point is that the majority of Cypriots were very happy with the SBAs during the 60s, as I've already said they benefitted immensley from the money earned through their prescence during the 60s and up until the 74 invasion when all UK personel were then housed on the SBAS so very little UK money was then spent outside them.

[Jerry]

The Turks were capable of taking the whole island from any point of the compass regardless of the SBAs .

Just shows how much you don't/didn't know of the capabilites existing on the SBAs at the time.
The Turkish forces like Saddams were just a rag bag army, ill equiped, illtrained, dissatisfied conscripts.
Have you been around any military conscripts in Turkey, busses are regularly stopped for deserter searches?
The Ghurkas didn't need to open fire the Turks knew they meant bussiness as they weren't running away like the Greek cypriots.

I'm afraid Jim Callaghan, The British Foreign Secretary at the time would disagree with you. Without the threat of US military support the British UN forces had to stand by and let the Turks conquer Cyprus.

"I told Hartman that I had earlier made clear to Ecevit that although the British troops facing them were wearing United Nations berets, they would stand their ground in face of a Turkish Army encroachment and my country would not be prepared to see them pushed aside. Since that conversation the Turks had been heavily reinforced, but Britain was ready to strengthen a static defence against possible lines of Turkish advance by moving in more reinforcements and flying in further Phantoms. I would repeat the warning to the Turks on whom would fall the onus of challenging the United Nations, but I must be assured of American support if I were to do so, and in the light of our conversation this would apparently not be forthcoming. I continued that I understood American concern with the broad issues of the south-east flank of NATO but the United States was ignoring other perspectives, including Britain's role as a Guarantor Power and the safeguarding of the lives of thousands of British citizens.
As soon as Arthur Hartman had left, I fired off a telegram to Henry Kissinger, saying that these important differences were impairing our mutual confidence. I reiterated that it was not sufficient to approach the Turks solely through the medium of diplomacy. The correct policy was to tackle them on parallel lines, namely to convince them that we were in earnest on both the diplomatic and the military level. This was the most likely way to achieve results. As to his complaint that the British had introduced a military dimension, I reminded him that the reality was that this dimension was constantly hanging over the heads of the British troops who were heavily outnumbered by up to twenty-five thousand Turkish soldiers.
Kissinger's response was to telephone Ecevit once more to renew his personal plea that Turkey should adhere to a political solution, telling him that he could expect no support if the Turks made a military move and that the United States would mount a major diplomatic effort to halt them. Kissinger told me that he would give every support to British efforts to save the crisis by diplomatic means, but he did not consider threats of military action either helpful or appropriate, as they distracted attention from the political options. I recognised both Henry's ability and the influence of America, which had been very considerable in securing the cease-fire on 22 July, but I was convinced that more would be needed on this occasion. The only thing that might deter the Turks was the conviction that they would face military opposition if they attempted to advance further."

http://web.archive.org/web/20061012195007/http://www.cyprus-conflict.net/callaghan.htm

[GreekIslandGirl]

reply to Island girl
The Greek Cypriots claimed independence and got it in 1960 but then expected the British troops on the SBAs to continue policng the the island,

Up and until 1965 the Brits kept the arguing factions apart, in the end the UK said to the UN it is "your job you do it". the UN did it on a 6 month reviewal basis and sure as hell just before the 6 months was up they had a minor skirmish with each other which kept the UN in force spending yet more money alongside the money from the SBAs.
Halfway House UN compound on the Limassol/Nickosia/Larnaca road junction being a typical location of token attacks.
I was there at the time were you?

How did the Brits keep TCs and GCs apart between 1960 to 1965? Did they fund the TMT to enclave them?

(There are some serious gaps in your knowledge.) What happened in 1964? Where were you when Turkey first tried to invade?

- Who actually appointed the UN? (Operationally established on 27 March 1964.) What "money from the SBAs"? Which "token attacks" were you involved in and how? Killing TCs or GCs?

[boulio]

the income that is gained by the sba is futile in comparison to the income that would be gained if the areas of the sba would be given back to the ROC, WE are talking about roughly 3% of the land area of cyprus with beach front property.

[Don Kelley]

the income that is gained by the sba is futile in comparison to the income that would be gained if the areas of the sba would be given back to the ROC, WE are talking about roughly 3% of the land area of cyprus with beach front property.

There is little income from the SBAs today but that was not the case before 1974, when in Limassol alone much of the local income was gained from Akrotiri and Episkopi SBAs along with the several bases in Limassol itself.
I was there and still vist the family we rented from and they rue the day as do many that the service famillies were moved on to the bases.