CYPRUS (Hansard, 22 December 1976)

§ Baroness ELLES
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

§ The MINISTER of STATE, FOREIGN and COMMONWEALTH OFFICE (Lord Goronwy-Roberts)
My Lords, Her Majesty's Government deplore the looting of property on the Island whether it belongs to Greek Cypriots or Turkish Cypriots. It is, however, difficult to pass judgment on the basis of newspaper reports. None the less, the situation as reported confirms Her Majesty's Government's view that the humanitarian talks to discuss problems such as this should be restarted in Nicosia as soon as possible.

§ Baroness ELLES
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for that reply. May I ask the Minister whether he can assure the House that Her Majesty's Government still retain a degree of responsibility for the people of Cyprus under the Treaty of Guarantee, and whether he can give to the Greek Cypriots living in the Southern part of the Island any hope of their ever having a chance to go back to their homes? Secondly, what has been done to get any compensation for the many British citizens living in the North of the Island who have had their homes looted?

§ Lord GORONWY-ROBERTS
My Lords, as to our responsibilities under the Treaty and Agreement of 1960, I think 1300 we have discharged them faithfully. The commitment was as I described in this House at the time and I shall on any future occasion be glad to repeat this. It is a tripartite undertaking, and ever since the later phases of the disturbances and difficulties on the Island we have striven with the Turkish and Greek authorities in Greece, in Turkey and on the Island, and also with like-minded countries, particularly in the Nine and the US, to endeavour to do what the noble Baroness rightly stressed is necessary; that is, to get going again the two conferences which the Secretary-General of the United Nations set afoot, with initial hopes of success, first on the humanitarian level in Nicosia (about which I agree with the noble Baroness) and, secondly, more comprehensively, on the analogy of the two Geneva conferences which the present Prime Minister, then Foreign Secretary, initiated and in relation to which he came very close indeed to a sensible solution of this problem.

§ Lord MAYBRAY-KING
My Lords, while noting with pleasure the reply of the noble Lord to the first Question, may I ask whether in the New Year he will seek to reinvigorate the Co-chairmen's Committee, of which we are one member`? Will he further raise in the United Nations the tragic position of the Greek Cypriots in Cyprus, and will he make contact with the new Administration in Washington so that America may help to use her influence to bring to an end the inhumanities that have been committed in Cyprus and work out a humane and just settlement of the problems of Greece and Turkey there?

§ Lord GORONWY-ROBERTS
My Lords, I can say at once to my noble friend that the three points of diplomatic activity he has so concisely mentioned are very much part of our continuing policy in this matter. May I, while I am replying to him, apologise to the noble Baroness for not having addressed myself to the two other very important points that she raised? Her second point was the need to get, as she termed it, the Greek Cypriots back to their homes. This and any similar humanitarian problem is most usefully and urgently discussed in the humanitarian conference, as it is called, in Nicosia.
1301 On the third point, about compensation, may I detain your Lordships; for it is an important matter? I should like to say that a senior officer of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office visited Cyprus and Turkey between 19th and 28th October. I do not think I have had the opportunity to say this in this House before and I am grateful for the opportunity to do so now. During this visit he urged the Government of Cyprus, the Turkish Government and the Turkish Cypriot authorities in Cyprus to give early consideration to British claims for compensation which have been, and are being, addressed to them. I have details of how our own post is handling this and handing over the claims which are being formulated and put together. If the noble Baroness would like to discuss these with me I shall be delighted, as always, to see her.

§ Lord AVEBURY
My Lords, the noble Lord does not need to rely on newspaper reports to get information about Turkish looting in the North. The United Nations has compiled a dossier detailing these allegations. Would the noble Lord ensure that this dossier is published so that the evidence is available to the whole world? Does he recall that when a number of Parliamentarians visited Cyprus at the beginning of this year we reported to the Foreign Office Ministers and gave them first-hand evidence which we had received of looting of property in the North, including properties owned by British citizens?

§ Lord GORONWY-ROBERTS
My Lords, I am aware of the Parliamentary visit, and the noble Lord is aware that my right honourable friend the Minister of State who deals with this part of the world is also engaged in a fairly prolonged and comprehensive fact-finding mission on the Island. As to the basis for the article—written by a most reputable journalist, if I may say so, and, I would add, in a most reputable newspaper—this appears to be the availability to him of utterly confidential official documents which are not in fact, by agreement, available to Member States of the United Nations, not even to those who are involved in UNFICYP. Therefore, it would be quite inappropriate for me to endeavour to secure copies of such a confidential document for Her Majesty's Government's use, and still less to publish 1302 them, as the noble Lord has so enticingly invited me to do.

§ Baroness ELLES
My Lords, I was encouraged by t he reply of the noble Lord because I realise his deep concern on the humanitarian issues in Cyprus. Can he tell us whether Her Majesty's Government have considered the proposal which has been made previously from these Benches and in another place, that a high ranking European should be asked to serve in Cyprus for a long period in order to establish a negotiating position between the parties? This might be a more satisfactory way of reaching a peaceful solution than leaving it to some more formal body.

§ Lord GORONWY-ROBERTS
My Lords, if I may say so, that is a substantial and responsible suggestion. We are aware of it. I have no doubt that the Secretary-General, who is the initiator of both sets of talks, will have taken advice on it already. It is well that the noble Baroness should mention it again at this juncture.

§ Lord DENHAM
Next Question!

§ Lord BROCKWAY
My Lords, the noble Lord referred to the humanitarian and political conferences. In view of the fact that the political conference has been taking place for months, if not years, is it not desirable that a bolder initiative should be taken for a settlement of the problem of Cyprus on the lines suggested by my noble friend Lord Caradon?

§ Lord GORONWY-ROBERTS
My Lords, I would unhesitatingly assure the House that any new initiative, however broad, would be most favourably considered by Her Majesty's Government, always of course in consultation with like-minded countries, particularly in the Commonwealth, among the Nine and indeed in the United States. There is absolutely no doubt about this. It is a matter of feasibility, and it is also a matter of how far at a certain juncture one substitutes for probably the most authoritative initiative of all, that of the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
The fact is that both types of conference were set afoot under the auspices of Dr. Waldheim. Both have stalled since 1303 the spring of this year. We deplore this, but since February the comprehensive discussions on the political future have not, because of inter-communal prejudice and animosity, been able to continue. We are assiduous diplomatically in trying to get them resumed. We equally hope that at the humanitarian level the perfectly reasonable process of having meetings in Nicosia between the parties concerned—wherever the blame lies for any particular incident at any particular time—will be resumed under the auspices of the United Nations.