Not to expropriate private property within the Sovereign Base Areas except for military purposes on payment of fair compensation.
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| The bases have their own legal system, distinct from the UK and Cyprus. This consists of the laws of the Colony of Cyprus as at August 1960, amended as necessary. The laws of Akrotiri and Dhekelia are kept, as far as possible, the same as the laws of Cyprus. The Court of the Sovereign Base Areas is concerned with non-military offences committed by any person within Akrotiri and Dhekelia, and law and order is maintained by the Sovereign Base Areas Police, while military law is upheld by the Cyprus Joint Police Unit.
| - Amateur Radio
| The bases are issued different amateur radio call signs from the Republic of Cyprus. Amateurs on the bases use the International Telecommunication Union prefix of "ZC4" which is assigned to Great Britain. The ITU prefix for the Republic of Cypress is mainly "5B". The Turkish Republich of Northern Cyprus uses the unallocated call sign prefix of "1B", but this is only recognized internationally by Turkey.
File:Garrison HQ, Dhekelia.jpg
The British Army Garrison HQ at Dhekelia
| - Politics
| According to the Ministry of Defence, "Because the SBAs are primarily required as military bases and not ordinary dependent territories, the Administration reports to the Ministry of Defence in London. It has no formal connection with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office or the British High Commission in Nicosia, although there are close informal links with both offices on policy matters."
| | The bases are administered by the Administrator of the Sovereign Base Areas, who is the Commander of British Forces Cyprus (from 2008 Major-General Jamie Gordon). The Administrator is officially appointed by the British monarch, on the advice of the Ministry of Defence. The Administrator has all the executive and legislative authority of a Governor of an overseas territory. A Chief Officer is appointed, and is responsible to the Administrator for the day-to-day running of the civil government. No elections are held in the Bases, although British citizens are normally entitled to vote in United Kingdom elections (as British Forces or overseas electors).
| | Map of Dhekelia (Eastern) SBA
| | Akrotiri and Dhekelia cover 3% of the land area of Cyprus, a total of 254 km (98 (sq mi) (98 square miles) (123 km² (47.5) at Akrotiri and 131 km (51 (sq mi) (50.5) at Dhekelia). 60% of the land is privately owned, either by British or Cypriot citizens. The other 40% is owned by the Ministry of Defence, or is classed as Crown land. In addition to Akrotiri and Dhekelia themselves, the Treaty of Establishment also provides for the continued use by the British Government of certain facilities within Cyprus, known as Retained Sites .
| | Akrotiri is located in the south of the island, near the city of Limassol (or Lemesos). Dhekelia is in the southeast, near Larnaca. Both of these areas include military bases, as well as farmland and some residential land. Akrotiri is surrounded by territory controlled by the Republic of Cyprus, but Dhekelia also borders on the United Nations (UN) buffer zone and the Turkish-occupied part of the island.
| | Ayia Napa lies to the East of Dhekelia. The villages of Xylotymbou and Ormidhia, also in the Republic of Cyprus, are enclaves surrounded by Dhekelia SBA. The Dhekelia Power Station, divided by a British road into two parts, also belongs to Cyprus. The northern part is an enclave, like the two villages, whereas the southern part is located by the sea, and therefore not an enclave, though it has no territorial waters of its own.
| - Demographics
| When the bases were being established, the boundaries were drawn up to avoid centres of population. However, around 14,000 people live in the bases. Around 7,000 native Cypriots live in the bases, who either work in the bases themselves, or on farmland within the boundaries of the bases. The British military and their families make up the rest of the population.
| | There is no specific citizenship available for the bases, although some people may be able to claim British Overseas Territories citizenship (BOTC) status. Unlike all other British territories, BOTCs connected solely with the Sovereign Base Areas do not have any entitlement to full British citizenship.
| | Under the terms of the 1960 agreement with Cyprus establishing the Sovereign Base Areas, the United Kingdom is committed not to use the Areas for civilian purposes. This was stated in 2002 as the primary reason for the exclusion of the Areas from the scope of the British Overseas Territories Act 2002.
| - Economy
There are no economic statistics gathered for Akrotiri and Dhekelia. The main economic activities are the provision of services to the military, as well as limited agriculture. On 1 January 2008 Akrotiri and Dhekelia adopted the euro along with the rest of Cyprus, despite not being part of the European Union. The Sovereign Base Areas are the only areas under British sovereignty to use the euro.
- Media
| A weekly community newspaper, The Cyprus Lion is sold in both SBAs and in shops. BFBS Radio 1 and 2 are broadcast on FM and can be widely received in Cyprus, but the BFBS Television signal has been confined to the SBAs or encrypted since 1997, for copyright reasons.
| | Akrotiri featured in Danger Men:Red Arrows
| - Amateur Radio
| Amateur radio call signs with the Sovereign Base area are assigned prefixes of ZC4. There are about 52 amateurs licensed in this manner.
| | - See also
| | Outline of Akrotiri and Dhekelia
| | British overseas territories
| | United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus
| | Index of Akrotiri and Dhekelia-related articles
| | Postal Orders of the Akrotiri Sovereign Base Area (The numismatic history of the Akrotiri SBA.
| | Postal Orders of the Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area (The numismatic history of the Dhekelia SBA.
| | Sovereign Base Areas Customs
| | Sovereign Base Areas Police
| | - References
| | Vassilis K. Fouskas. 2003. Zones of Conflict:U.S. Foreign Policy in the Balkans and the Greater Middle East . Pluto Press. ISBN 0-7453-2030-9. Pp. 93, 111
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