§ Mr. Callaghan(by Private Notice) asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will make a statement about the new security measures in Cyprus.
§ The Secretary of State for the Colonies (Mr. Alan Lennox-Boyd)Yes, Sir. Since the beginning of June there has been grave deterioration in the internal situation in Cyprus. Disorders have been largely communal, but the campaign of intimidation and murder by the terrorist organisations has continued and members of the British forces have also been murdered. Between 1st June and 22nd July, 95 people have been killed in Cyprus and over 170 wounded. Violence between Greeks and Turks has reached a peak in the past 12 days, during which 51 people have been killed and over 80 wounded.
The ceaseless activities of the security forces alone prevented the slaughter from assuming even more serious proportions. This outbreak of violence, which was not restrained by appeals for peace and order made by the Governor, and the community leaders and reinforced by appeals made on all sides in Parliament, confronted the Governor with the gravest threat to peace in the history of our administration of Cyprus.
677 The information which the Governor had lately been receiving showed it was part of E.O.K.A.'s plan to attack the Turkish Cypriot community as such and not merely by way of reprisals for acts of communal violence, and that E.O.K.A. was on the point of commencing widespread sabotage and attacks on the security forces.
The Turkish Cypriots, at the same time, have been threatening further attacks on the Greeks, and the Turkish leaflets were inciting more communal violence and also violence against the Government.
To meet this grave situation, the Governor, with the full approval of Her Majesty's Government, gave orders for the arrest and detention of a large number of E.O.K.A. supporters and of known Turkish Cypriot terrorists and troublemakers. Over 1,400 Greek Cypriots and 50 Turkish Cypriots have been arrested. T.M.T.—the Turkish terrorist organisation—has been proscribed.
These measures will be followed up with determined action against anyone of either community who resorts to violence and by all measures necessary to restore order.
§ Mr. CallaghanI think that everyone who has listened to this recital of events must feel the terrible sense of tragedy in the affairs of the island. I am sure that none more than Sir Hugh Foot shares that feeling.
May I ask the Secretary of State, in view of the almost desperate nature of these events, whether he proposes to make any contact with the Greek Foreign Secretary, who is, I believe, now in Paris, and with the Turkish Prime Minister, who, I understand, will be coming here on Monday, to see whether those two Governments will associate themselves with a call to end violence? May I also ask the right hon. Gentleman what positive measures the Government propose to take in addition to these very essential but necessarily negative measures?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydI am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for the way in which he has couched his supplementary question. Both Houses of Parliament felt that Her Majesty's Government's recently declared policy should be given a fair chance. This was also the view of our N.A.T.O. Allies. That policy included 678 an invitation by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to meet the Prime Ministers of Greece and Turkey. Naturally, the Prime Minister deeply regrets that more progress has not been made with regard to his declared wish to have personal talks at the earliest possible date with the Prime Ministers of Greece and Turkey. This invitation is still open. Meanwhile, there has been, of course, continuous diplomatic activity.
I think that the hon. Gentleman knows that the Greek and Turkish Governments have frequently been urged to use their influence to bring violence to an end. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister will, however, certainly consider the suggestion that the hon. Gentleman has made.
§ Mr. CallaghanI should like to ask one further question about the possibility of talks inside the island in view of the present situation. Has the Secretary of State seen the report in the Manchester Guardian that Archbishop Makarios has said that he wishes to return as soon as possible and will do his best to bring about peace, as no one wants these murders to continue? As both he and Dr. Kutchuk have now left the island, will not the right hon. Gentleman and the Government, in these desperate circumstances, consider the possibility of getting them both back to the island, where discussions can start?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydI am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his suggestion, but I think he knows that there must be a distinction drawn between these two communal leaders, in this sense. Dr. Kutchuk is now on a visit to Turkey. He has never been excluded from the island.
As to the return of Archbishop Makarios, I have made repeated statements about the desire of Her Majesty's Government to see a situation develop in the island under which that return would be possible. I ask the hon. Gentleman particularly to look at the words of the White Paper, in which we said, only a few weeks ago:
If the full benefits of this policy are to be realised, it is evident that violence must cease. Subject to this, Her Majesty's Government intend to take progressive steps to relax the Emergency Regulations and eventually to end the State of Emergency. This process would include the return of those Cypriots at present excluded from the island under the Emergency Regulations.679 The sooner that position can be brought about the better.I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will also realise that intemperate statements, by whoever they are made, in Greece or Turkey, by communal leaders, make it more difficult to enable discussions on the island to take place in an atmosphere of calm.
§ Mr. CallaghanWhat we are concerned with is whether the return of these leaders will help to accelerate the ending of violence. It was the Government's position for some time that the Archbishop, in particular, could not be allowed to return until he had denounced this violence. This statement of his comes as close to that as anything I have seen from him. It is the view of many who are following the situation that he is genuinely anxious to put and end to the situation. If that is so, should not we try to use his services to bring the situation there to an end?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydI have asked for further details of that alleged statement. I can assure the hon. Gentleman that the Government would not be lacking in an imaginative response to gestures which may be made from whatever quarters they may come.
§ Mr. K. RobinsonIs it not now clear that the political situation in Cyprus has moved outside the control of the Government, and will not the right hon. Gentleman consider, in addition to the suggestions made by my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff, South-East (Mr. Callaghan), the possibility of asking for the assistance of the United Nations to find a solution to this problem and to bring an end to this tragic communal violence?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydNo, Sir. The situation has not moved out of the control of the Government, and the main purpose of the events of the last few days, which nobody regrets more than His Excellency the Governor and myself, has been to remove fear from the island and to enable proper discussions to take place. The action taken by the Cyprus Administration has been to stop communal murder. Of course, it would be possible to let the two communities massacre each other. Some people might 680 find this a tempting solution. In our view, however, apart from the strategic considerations, it would be a very dishonourable course to adopt. In our view, the mutual massacre would not be confined to the island.
§ Mr. PagetDoes not the right hon. Gentleman realise now, as I told him at the time, that this outburst is the inevitable result of his fatuous plan and that it will continue until he scraps that plan? We shall not get peace in Cyprus until both Greek and Turk are assured that they will not be ruled by the other. That means that we shall rule and stop negotiating. Why not say so?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydThat clearly involves that that would be so for the next seven years, with the co-operation of our N.A.T.O. Allies and Greece and Turkey. Far from the plan being fatuous, it was one which was endorsed in general by both Houses in this country and by the general good feeling of our N.A.T.O. Allies.