§ Mrs. Jegerasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his present estimate of loss and damage suffered by United Kingdom citizens in Cyprus; what reply Her Majesty's Government have received to their representations from the Turkish Government; and what action is proposed in the event of continuing lack of progress, especially in cases of hardship.
§ Mr. HattersleyAccess to certain areas of Cyprus continues to be prohibited by the Turkish military authorities and it is, therefore, still not possible to estimate the total financial losses sustained by United Kingdom citizens.
There has as yet been no formal reply from the Turkish Government to our repeated representations about compensation procedures. Her Majesty's Ambassador in Ankara again raised the matter with the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 6th May. We shall continue to press the Turkish Government until a satisfactory response is received, but, as I made clear in my reply to the right hon. and learned Member for Hertfordshire, East (Sir D. Walker-Smith) on 29th January—[Vol. 885, c. 163.]—there is no prospect of Her Majesty's Government's 175W providing interim financial assistance by way of loan or otherwise. United Kingdom citizens in Cyprus who are really destitute, however, may seek the advice of the British High Commission.
§ Mrs. Jegerasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what advice he has given to United Kingdom citizens in Cyprus about the advisability of making claims for loss and damage resulting from the Turkish invasion in the courts of mainland Turkey; and what legal assistance will be available, especially to United Kingdom citizens who have lost all their resources.
§ Mr. HattersleyHer Majesty's Government have issued a notice, copies of which are in the Library of the House, which draws attention to the existence of a possible legal remedy in the Turkish courts and the existence of a 12-month limitation period on bringing such an action. The notice does not purport to offer advice on the wisdom of bringing such an action. If any individual claimant were to decide to take legal action in the Turkish courts, the cost of so doing would be that individual's own responsibility. The notice, moreover, makes clear that our efforts to persuade the Turkish Government to establish procedures for the consideration of individual claims will in no way be relaxed.
§ Mr. Hastingsasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he possesses about the operation of the requirement imposed on British residents in Cyprus to register their property with the Turkish-Cypriot authorities by 30th June.
§ Mr. HattersleyThe British High Commission in Nicosia has for some time been compiling its own register of British-owned property. It was decided that appropriate details would be extracted from the High Commission's records and passed to the Turkish-Cypriot authorities to meet the 30th June deadline mentioned in their property registration announcements, repeated in the Foreign and Commonwealth notice of 20th March referred to in my reply of 9th May—[Vol. 891, c.546.]—to the hon. Member for Epping Forest (Mr. Biggs-Davison). The High Commission is in the middle of this exercise now. Provided, therefore, that 176W United Kingdom nationals have already registered their property with the High Commission, they may take it that the Turkish Government requirements will be met on their behalf.
I must emphasise that this action does not constitute recognition of the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus; we are dealing with them on this particular matter because of the overriding importance we attach to the protection of British property interests and in the hope that the registration procedure is an indication of their desire to provide a more satisfactory degree of protection for British property.