Cyprus

HC Deb 07 July 1976 vol 914 cc1349-52

6. Mr. Brittan

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make a further statement about compensation for damage to the property of British citizens in Cyprus.

Mr. Luard

The developments I reported in my reply to the hon. Gentleman's Question on 19th May are being followed up, but it is as yet too soon to expect any further substantive progress.

Mr. Brittan

As the compensation was offered last July and a claims commission was promised last December, is it not time for the commission to be set up? Will the hon. Gentleman press the Turkish authorities much harder than he has been doing, in the realisation that many of the victims are elderly and would like to obtain the benefit of compensation while they are able to enjoy it?

Mr. Luard

We are conscious of that very fact. Contrary to what the hon. Gentleman says, we have been pressing the Turkish Government hard on this question. The claims commission has not yet been established, but we are taking steps to inform our own claimants of their rights and to help them to submit their own claims.

Mr. Christopher Price

Has my hon. Friend taken any action on the recommendations in the report of the Select Committee that a small fund for those in urgent immediate need should be set up by the British Government?

Mr. Luard

We certainly noted that recommendation, together with many other recommendations in that report. However, it is a basic principle, which has been followed by British Governments of all political parties over many years, that we never ourselves provide compensation for losses incurred in foreign countries, and we do not intend to make an exception in this case.

Mr. Hurd

This cannot be a great matter for the Turkish Government, but it is a great matter for the individual British citizens concerned. Could this not be raised at a slightly higher level?

Would it not be possible to point out at that higher level to the Turkish Government that unless the matter is speedily dealt with our relations with Turkey are bound to remain to some extent soured?

Mr. Luard

As I said, we have already made these points, but I will take note of what the hon. Member and others have said and we shall certainly seek to press the matter once more and even more firmly.

Mr. Atkinson

Is not my hon. Friend aware that Mr. Demirel has now said that he can see no possible way of progress being made in any of the outstanding issues on the whole of the Cypriot question? Therefore, could not the British Government now be concerned directly with the Turkish Government in some initiatives which would not only bring about a resumption of the intercommunal talks but would be shown to be positive steps not only for the restoration of the sovereignty of the island but for some pursuance of the United Nations situation?

Mr. Luard

We have consistently believed, and said that we believe, that the way forward is through the inter-communal talks. We have given support and will continue to give support to the United Nations Secretary-General and others in trying to ensure that those talks are resumed as soon as possible.

19. Mr. Christopher Price

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he next intends to visit Cyprus.

Mr. Hattersley

My right hon. Friend has at present no plans to do so.

Mr. Price

When my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gets back from wherever he is at the moment, will the Minister of State urge upon him that hon. Members on this side of the House feel that Cyprus is one of those urgent problems, among others, to which he should give greater attention? What initiatives are the British Government now taking in the EEC and the United Nations to solve the problem?

Mr. Hattersley

The initiative that the Government continue to take is one that they feel is most likely to succeed, which is pressure through whatever sources are available to us—the EEC and others—for the reconstitution of the inter-communal talks and the continuation of those talks on matters of substance. That seems to us more likely to result in progress than any other sort of initiative that has ever been suggested to us.

Mr. Townsend

What action have the Government taken to implement the recommendations of the Select Committee?

Mr. Hattersley

The Government will publish their reply or their comments on the Select Commitee's recommendations quite soon. In the meantime, the House must judge our reaction from the statement I made on the day the Select Committee's report was produced, which was that much of the evidence given to the Select Committee was ignored and that its judgments were by no means objective and impartial.

Mr. Raphael Tuck

Is my right hon. Friend aware that there are still 2,000 Greek Cypriots missing since the Turkish invasion and that United Nations Resolution 3450 of December 1975 reaffirmed the basic need for families to be informed about their missing relatives and requested the Secretary-General of the United Nations to use all his efforts to trace those people? Why has no progress been made on this humanitarian problem?

Mr. Hattersley

The Government entirely share the concern which my hon. Friend has expressed and horror that for so long these people have been missing and their families have been left in doubt and distress. The Government have done their best, through representations to Turkey and elsewhere, to discover their whereabouts. I discussed the matter with the Foreign Minister of Greece when I was in Athens three weeks ago. Many of these tragic problems will not be solved until there is a settlement to the Cyprus problem. We must concentrate on that.

Mr. Corbett

Does my right hon. Friend accept that a visit to Cyprus by my right hon. Friend the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary would be a reaffirmation of our acceptance of our obligations there under the treaty and would be welcomed as an earnest of the Government's intention to try to have the inter-communal talks restarted? Does he accept that the longer there is delay on the matter the more difficult it will be to resolve one of the most tragic problems in that part of the world?

Mr. Hattersley

I agree with the third part of my hon. Friend's question. I hope that there is no need for a reaffirmation of our support for our obligations and for the re-establishment of a Cyprus which is independent, sovereign and peaceful. My only argument with my hon. Friend concerns his second point, about the advantages of an early visit by my right hon. Friend. What Cyprus does not need now is initiatives which might appear glamorous and attractive superficially but which end in disaster and failure. It is much better for my right hon. Friend to continue what he has done over the past three months, which is to work quietly, and I hope more successfully, for a speedy solution.