| Kopay Army Base | |
| Location: | Kopay |
| Country: | Sri Lanka |
| Pushpin Map: | Sri Lanka Northern Province |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location within Northern Province |
| Type: | Military base |
| Ownership: | Ministry of Defence and Urban Development |
| Operator: | Sri Lanka Army |
| Controlledby: | Security Forces Headquarters – Jaffna |
| Open To Public: | No |
| Garrison: | 51 Division |
Kopay Army Base is a military base in Kopay, Sri Lanka. The base was built on a Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam war cemetery.
In the early 1990s, when the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) controlled the Valikamam region of Jaffna peninsula, they built a thuyilum illam (resting place) for their maaveerar (great heroes) in Kopay. After the Sri Lankan military recaptured Valikamam in 1995 they destroyed the LTTE cemetery using tractors.[1] [2] [3] After the Norwegian mediated peace process began in 2002 the LTTE started rebuilding their war cemeteries including that at Kopay.[1] [2] After the Sri Lankan Civil War ended in May 2009 with military defeat of the LTTE the Sri Lankan government/military re-commenced destroying LTTE war cemeteries and other memorials for dead LTTE members.[4] In July 2010 the Sri Lankan military destroyed Kopay war cemetery.[5] The cemetery had had 2,000 graves.[6]
The Sri Lankan military then started building an army base on the site of the cemetery.[7] [8] On 4 March 2011 the new headquarters of the Sri Lanka Army's 51 Division was officially opened by Jagath Jayasuriya, Commander of the Army.[6] [9]