§ 2.34 p.m.
§ Lord BROCKWAYMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government what proposals they will make at the forthcoming United Nations General Assembly, when the situation in Cyprus is discussed, to implement the resolutions of the United Nations.
§ The PARLIAMENTARY UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE, FOREIGN and COMMONWEALTH OFFICE (Lord Goronwy-Roberts)My Lords, together with our partners in the Nine, Her Majesty's Government are actively working for the resumption of the intercommunal talks in keeping with United Nations Resolutions and in particular with Security Council Resolution 367 of 1975, which requested the Secretary-General to undertake a new mission of good offices. The action which Her Majesty's Government will take at the forthcoming United Nations General Assembly when the Cyprus item is discussed, probably towards the middle of November, will be determined nearer the time, and will depend on developments. It is our earnest hope that progress will be made towards the resumption of the intercommunal negotiations over the next few weeks.
§ Lord BROCKWAYMy Lords, while thanking my noble friend for that reply, may I ask whether he is aware that many of us are distressed that the British Government have not been able to carry out more fully their guarantee to Cyprus? Would he endorse the remarks which were made by MacDonald Gordon, the new High Commissioner in Cyprus, last Monday? Referring to the Government, he said:
It is their sincere hope that a solution may be found based on independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity".Will that be the purpose of Her Majesty's Government at the meeting of the United Nations?
§ Lord GORONWY-ROBERTSMy Lords, I cannot accept that the United Kingdom Government have not made 1138 every effort to assist in the situation which obtains in Cyprus through no fault of their own. Indeed, our commitment was to consult and that we have done extensively. At one time it seemed as if our action would bear fruit. It is clear to us that the solution to the Cyprus crisis rests, in the first place, with the communities on the island and then will be arrived at through an international effort, headed, as it is now, by the Secretary-General of the United Nations. In that initiative, we are taking a very active part. On the second point raised by my noble friend, I do indeed take note of the views that he has quoted and I see no reason to dissent from what Mr. Gordon has said on the matter.
§ Lord MAYBRAY-KINGMy Lords, is my noble friend aware that our many friends among the Greeks and the Greek Cypriots are anxiously waiting for the Government to take some initiative in this matter, particularly as we, with Greece and Turkey, were the three chairmen who guaranteed the integrity of Cyprus?
§ Lord GORONWY-ROBERTSYes, of course, my Lords, and so are other elements in Cyprus anxious to support any initiative that will suit them. We see this as a problem, in the first instance, for our Greek and Turkish friends on the island to come together for inter-communal talks. It is an inter-communal difficulty and at least in the first stage the solution rests there. Thereafter, as the United Nation's Secretary-General has abundantly shown with very strong support from the representative of Her Majesty's Government in the United Nations, a conference to give substantive effect to an agreement on the island seemed to us to be the only avenue leading to a durable solution of this very difficult situation.