By Jean Christou
The UK House of Commons on Monday debated a motion supporting a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem based on a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation and the return of Famagusta to its lawful inhabitants.
The motion also calls on Turkey to act in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions on Famagusta whose residents “must resettle under conditions of security and peace”.
It urges the British government, as a guarantor power of Cyprus, to promote Turkey’s cooperation; and directs the Speaker to forward the resolution to President Nicos Anastasiades, Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci, the UN Secretary General and Turkey.
The motion was tabled by David Burrowes, Conservative MP for Enfield, Southgate and debated on Monday afternoon during a Backbench Business session.
“It is sad that nowhere else in the world do so many Greek and Turkish Cypriots live freely side by side, working, socialising and trading with each other – in my constituency, they live together along Green Lanes, but in Cyprus they are divided by the Green Line,” he said.
“We know that Cyprus is a member of the European Union, yet it is tragically and intolerably divided and occupied. That provides the context of the motion before us today,” said Burrowes.
He said Britain has a significant historical interest in Cyprus, as well as a legal interest as one of the guarantor powers and in recent months and days had become of obvious strategic interest given its location in a troubled region, and was home to sovereign base areas he said were significant for the wider world.
Burrowes said Cyprus had a conservative president who had taken a very sensible view of the sovereign base areas and had shown a keen understanding of the ongoing strategic interests of those base areas for wider security in the region.
“I think Cyprus is in good hands, and we hope for a comprehensive settlement, which, together with our ongoing strategic interest, could make Cyprus a beacon to other nations, providing the stability the region needs so much,” he said.
Burrowes said the House of Commons had conducted a number of debates on Cyprus but what made Monday’s different was that they had a substantive motion. He said focus had been placed on Famagusta because the British group who visited last week saw first-hand the situation on the ground in the fenced off area of Varosha.
“We cannot get away from Famagusta… it matters. Opening the ports, run jointly by both Greek and Turkish Cypriots under the supervision of the EU or the UN, would dramatically help to support, financially, a reunited Cyprus,” Burrowes said. “If Turkey removed its troops from the island and recognised the Ankara protocol and the customs union – which would result from the opening up of the port of Famagusta – that would allow proper recognition of the need for free movement of goods and trade, and would remove obstacles from Turkey’s path to accession to the European Union.”
He asked whether the British government would support access for experts to Varosha so that they could assess the damage and the requirements for restoration and regeneration.
With regard to Britain’s guarantor powers, he asked whether his government would indicate that external countries’ guarantees have no future following a comprehensive settlement in Cyprus.
He also asked if the British government stood ready to help following settlement negotiations when intractable issues may require Turkish co-operation, and if the government would ask Turkey to provide information that is still being kept in their archives on the missing persons.
“This is a historic motion, which not only sets the scene for a general debate, but makes it crystal clear that we stand full square behind a comprehensive settlement that will be good for Cyprus, good for the region, and good for Britain,” Burrowes said.
