Cyprus

HC Deb 09 March 1983 vol 38 cc823-4

3. Mr. Norman Atkinson

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will now seek to raise with the Security Council the question of the continuing military occupation of Cypriot territory by Turkish troops.

The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. Douglas Hurd)

We do not intend to raise the Cyprus question at the Security Council. If Cyprus is debated in the United Nations General Assembly our policy will be guided by the need to support the intercommunal talks being held in Nicosia. We believe that these offer the best hope of a solution to the Cyprus problem.

Mr. Atkinson

Does the Minister agree that there will be no agreement at the intercommunal talks without the authority of General Evren's junta in Ankara? Will not the rest of the so-called free world think it a tragedy that this Government in particular, as a guarantor power, are unwilling to raise the question in the United Nations when they know that Turkey has been in breach of United Nations resolutions for nearly nine years? Is it not time for an initiative?

Mr. Hurd

No, Sir. The intercommunal talks under the chairmanship of the United Nations representative, Dr. Gobbi, started again yesterday. A debate at the United Nations would not help the talks, and we look to the talks for progress.

Mr. Beaumont-Dark

At the same time, will my right hon. Friend address himself to the matter of the Greek community troops? Will it not cause further racial disharmony to differentiate between the two problems?

Mr. Hurd

I think that the withdrawal of the Turkish troops will be part of an eventual settlement, but it must be part of a settlement and not a pre-condition.

Mr. Moyle

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that we agree with the Government that any solution to the Cyprus problem must be agreed between the communities on the island, and that communal talks are the best way of going about that? Is the Minister further aware that a great and growing number of Greek-speaking Cypriots regard the intercommunal talks as a block to progress on the Cyprus problem? Will the right hon. Gentleman bear in mind that progress is essential and therefore that the Government's attitude should not be one of total detachment from the talks?

Mr. Hurd

We are not detached from the talks. We are not parties to them round the table, but we do what we can to help them forward.