§ 15. Mr. Eddie O'Hara (Knowsley, South)If he will make a statement on the resumption of the Cyprus proximity talks. [R][129555]
§ 18. Mr. Tom Cox (Tooting)If he will make a statement on the resumption of the Cyprus proximity talks between the President of the Republic of Cyprus and Mr. Denktash. [129558]
§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. Keith Vaz)We welcomed the resumption of 218 the UN proximity talks on 5 July in Geneva, which have adjourned but will resume on 24 July and proceed until around 4 August. There will then be a further recess, after which talks will resume on 12 September in New York. UN Assistant Secretary-General De Soto has stated that he is happy that a calendar for the talks has been established but is unwilling to characterise their state of play.
§ Mr. O'HaraOn behalf of the British Government, will my hon. Friend condemn the recent advance of the Turkish army across 200 m of neutral ground at Strovilia, which is not only an act of aggression but an insult to the UN and, indeed, calculated not to facilitate the success of the negotiations? Further, will he confirm that the recognition of a Turkish republic of northern Cyprus as a legal entity can be neither the starting point nor the end point of negotiations, as that would legalise the armed occupation of a sovereign state?
§ Mr. VazMy hon. Friend is clearly a friend of Cyprus and has raised these issues on a number of occasions. The Government do not want anything to interfere with the success of the proximity talks, which as he knows will begin on Monday. I shall certainly take on board the points that he has made and pass them to Sir David Hannay. [Interruption.]
§ Madam SpeakerOrder. I should be obliged if the House would come to order. It is still Question Time.
§ Mr. CoxAlthough I note my hon. Friend's reply, is he aware of the crucial importance of the present round of talks? Over the 26 years since the brutal invasion of the Republic of Cyprus, which I remind my hon. Friend is a Commonwealth country, we have seen countless similar talks, only for them to fail. I hope that my hon. Friend will propose that the United Nations resolutions on Cyprus form the basis of the talks and that Mr. Denktash and his advisers will at long last be asked to enter meaningful discussion and not engage in the spoiling tactics that have been used repeatedly over the years since the invasion of the Republic of Cyprus.
§ Mr. VazI pay tribute to my hon. Friend's work on the Cyprus issue. He will recall the Prime Minister's statement on 23 December 1998 and the progress that we have made in the past two years. He will know of the importance of the proximity talks, and that they resume on 24 July—next Monday. We will do everything that we can to ensure a just and lasting settlement to this sorry issue.