{"id":3066,"date":"2009-12-26T13:01:35","date_gmt":"2009-12-26T18:01:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/?p=3066"},"modified":"2022-05-19T06:28:42","modified_gmt":"2022-05-19T11:28:42","slug":"enclaves-within-dhekelia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/enclaves-within-dhekelia\/","title":{"rendered":"Enclaves within Dhekelia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Cyprus. One island split so many different ways. There\u2019s the de facto partitioning between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. And there\u2019s the United Nations buffer zone created along the ceasefire line. Finally, there\u2019s the British Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia. This isn\u2019t about any of those divisions. Rather the three, well actually four, tiny exclaves of the Republic of Cyprus contained within Dhekelia attracted my attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fair warning, I am about to compress centuries of history and ignore points of vast geopolitical importance to focus on my very narrow interest in manmade terrestrial oddities. Students of Cypriot history will probably cringe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

British Interests<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The British used Cyprus as a base to protect their colonial trade routes in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. They administering the island beginning in the latter part of the Nineteenth Century but did not exercise actual sovereignty over it. The Ottoman Empire still ruled at that time. Things changed when the Ottoman Empire sided with the Central Powers during the First World War. Now enemies, the United Kingdom annexed Cyprus and it soon became a British Crown Colony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Cyprus<\/a>
Cyprus with British Sovereign Base Areas<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cyprus gained its independence in 1960, but in return the United Kingdom claimed dominion over two Sovereign Base Areas<\/a>. The island continued to remain a strategic location to the interests of Great Britain so the Base Areas were an important part of the deal establishing Cypriot independence. Britain continues to hold sovereignty over these military facilities a half-century later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The United Kingdom classifies a Sovereign Base Area a bit differently than it considers other territories. An Administrator presides over it rather than a Governor. This is more than a difference of semantics. The Administrator reports up through the Ministry of Defence and also serves as the military commander of British forces on Cyprus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Enclaves<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s an interesting governance model and its probably worthy of greater attention here on Twelve Mile Circle. Maybe someday I\u2019ll get to that. For the sake of brevity however, let\u2019s explore the little enclaves within Dhekelia, the easternmost of the two Sovereign Base Areas instead. They appear clearly on this map from the CIA World Factbook, with two of them labeled below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Dhekelia<\/a>
Closeup of Dhekelia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The enclaves within Dhekelia are all exclaves of the Republic of Cyprus, sovereign territory of the Greek Cypriot government. They include the fully-enveloped villages of Ormideia and Xylotymvou as well as the Dhekelia Power Station along the coast. I\u2019ve created a map to show the approximate boundaries of these enclaves. Please bear in mind that these are not exact boundaries but about the best I could do freehand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n