HC Deb 11 March 1964 vol 691 cc434-8
Mr. Paget (by Private Notice)

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations whether he will make a statement as to the action taken against and threats offered to British troops on duty in Nicosia and Ktima by Greek Cypriot police yesterday.

The Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations and for the Colonies (Mr. Duncan Sandys)

During the fighting between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots at Ktima, on 9th March, the Greek Cypriot police and irregulars obstructed British troops who were seeking to enter the town. Since he did not think it right to fire on the police, the Commander decided that he had no option, but to abandon his attempt to stop the fighting.

On 10th March, in Nicosia, a Turkish Cypriot convoy proceeding to Famagusta to collect Red Crescent supplies with a British military escort, was stopped by some Greek Cypriot police and about 50 armed irregulars. The Turkish Cypriot drivers were forced to stand in the road with their hands up while the convoy was searched. Again, since they did not wish to open fire on the police, the British escort was obliged to stand aside while the search was carried out.

These two incidents are typical of others which are making the task of our troops increasingly intolerable.

When the intercommunal fighting broke out last Christmas the British, Greek and Turkish Governments, as signatories of the Treaty of Guarantee, offered to make forces available to help maintain the cease fire and stop further fighting. This offer was accepted by President Makarios and Vice-President Kutchuk.

However, for reasons which are known to the House, Britain has had to bear almost the whole burden of the peacekeeping task; and as the situation has deteriorated we have had to send more and more reinforcements.

We have repeatedly made it clear that we cannot discharge these thankless duties, except with the full co-operation and good will of the Cyprus authorities and of both communities. I regret that lately there has been very little of either co-operation or good will.

When our troops have tried to separate the combatants, and to protect one group from attack by another, they have been accused of partiality and have been bitterly abused by the Press and radio. As recent incidents show, it has now reached the point where British troops, while attempting to discharge their duty are held up by Greek-Cypriot police and irregulars, who regard the Turkish-Cypriot police and the Turkish minority generally as rebels who must be forced into submission.

Both communities have at one time or another acted in a provocative and unconstitutional manner; and neither can reasonably claim that it has legal authority to impose its will on the other.

In any case, this is no time to argue about legal rights and wrongs. Cyprus is in a state verging on civil war. The urgent task is to stop the killings and to restore some sense of security among people who are now living in abject fear.

That is what our British soldiers have been trying to do. We have all admired their courage, their discipline and their unbelievable patience. But there is a limit to the dangers and indignities which we have a right to ask them to endure.

We have, therefore, warned the Secretary-General of the United Nations that we cannot much longer carry this burden alone, not only unaided, but actively obstructed by those whom we are trying to help. We are exerting all our efforts to assist the Secretary-General to establish a United Nations force, which can be sent to Cyprus without further dangerous delay. We have asked him to inform us tomorrow of the progress he has made and of his assessment of the prospects of success. In the light of his reply, we will review our position.

Mr. Paget

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that we on this side of the House would like to join with him and endorse all that he has said about the conduct of the British troops and of the sympathy which is due to them in the really impossible conditions in which they are placed?

Support of the civil power is always a job which soldiers hate, but when they find themselves threatened by the revolvers of the instrument of that civil power which they are seeking to aid, and find the police promoting the very conflict which they are trying to stop, the situation, as the right hon. Gentleman said, is intolerable.

Sir S. McAdden

Has the attention of my right hon. Friend been drawn to the photograph which appeared in the Press yesterday of a British soldier being threatened by a Greek Cypriot policeman with a revolver? In those circumstances, will he describe to the House the difference between a Greek Cypriot policeman and a Greek Cypriot irregular?

Mr. Sandys

I am sure that the whole country was shocked by that photograph which we saw yesterday.

The difference between a policeman and an irregular in Cyprus is a little hard to define, because, unfortunately, a very large number of armed irregulars have recently been enrolled into the Cyprus police in numbers far exceeding those laid down by the Constitution.

Mr. H. Wilson

I am sure that the hon. Gentleman is aware, from what has been said from both sides of the House, that the tributes paid to the British troops in previous weeks need to be added to following the additional burden which they have had to carry in the past few days. The right hon. Gentleman has rightly said that the situation is becoming intolerable. We understand that the Government are to consider the position urgently within the next 48 hours.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that whatever arguments there may have been—and the whole House has shown great restraint during these difficult weeks—all of us are extremely concerned about the present most humiliating position in which our troops are being put, and in which they are behaving with such restraint and dignity? How soon does he expect to be able to report to the House on the Government's further consideration of the matter?

Mr. Sandys

I am sure that the whole House appreciates the remarks which the right hon. Gentleman made. I cannot give him a precise answer to the last part of his question, but I will make a further statement at the very earliest possible moment.

Sir C. Mott-Radclyffe

Will my right hon. Friend agree that in this very difficult peace-keeping task to which he has referred, in which British troops are acting while the United Nations are talking, this position ought not to continue indefinitely but ought to be terminated by a definite date?

Mr. Sandys

Everything that I have said has indicated that we are extremely concerned about the continuation of this situation in regard to our troops, which the whole House deplores. On the other hand, I am sure that, equally, all hon. Members recognise the gravity of any decision which we might take in this matter.

Mr. A. Henderson

Pending the withdrawal of our forces, or, alternatively, the arrival of other United Nations contingents into Cyprus, is there any reason why our forces should not immediately be given the status of the nucleus of the United Nations peace-keeping force and put under the command of General Gyani, who is to command the United Nations force?

Mr. Sandys

I understand the thought behind the right hon. and learned Gentleman's question, but I do not believe that putting somebody else in command, even if that were desirable, would make the task any easier. I must say to the House quite frankly that even when the new United Nations force arrives, if, as I hope, it does, I am by no means certain that its task will be any easier than the task of the British forces there today.