Police in Cyprus have arrested an individual on suspicion of terror-related offences and spying on an RAF air base. The individual appeared before a district court on the island today, and was made the subject of an eight-day detention pending inquiries. No further details will be released at this time, police said, citing national security.

Several Cypriot news outlets reported the suspect was a man of Azeri ethnic descent and had been arrested in the Zakaki suburb of the coastal city of Limassol. The suspect was thought to have had a British RAF military base in nearby Akrotiri under surveillance, as well as Cyprus’s own Andreas Papandreou Air Base in the western region of Paphos since mid-April, Cyprus’s ANT1 news portal reported.

The arrest comes with heightened security alert on the island, after concerns about potential terrorist attacks by Iran against Israelis abroad.

Thousands of Israelis are currently in Cyprus waiting to return home.

The UK maintains two Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus: Akrotiri in the south and Dhekelia in the southeast, covering around 98 square miles.

They are considered British Overseas Territories and serve key strategic and intelligence roles, particularly for operations in the Middle East.

RAF Akrotiri is frequently used for surveillance, logistics, and airstrikes, including missions targeting ISIS and monitoring activity in Syria.

The bases also host thousands of British service personnel and their families, making them one of the UK’s largest permanent military presences overseas.

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