§ Bob SpinkTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the travel requirements will be for the UK citizens living in the Turkish occupied area of Cyprus who wish to enter British sovereign areas; and if he will make a statement. [118445]
§ Mr. MacShaneIn line with the commitments made to the Republic of Cyprus in the 1960 Treaty of Establishment, British citizens, like others resident in1150W Cyprus, have freedom of access and communication to and through the SBAs, provided they entered the island legally.
Any persons, including British citizens, who enter the island of Cyprus through a port of entry that is not internationally recognised, are considered illegal immigrants by the Government of the Republic of Cyprus. It has been HMG policy since 1974 to act in accordance with the Republic of Cyprus' immigration policy.
§ Bob SpinkTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the visa requirements are for those citizens of the Turkish occupied area of Cyprus who do not have a Cypriot passport after the accession of Cyprus to the EU. [118446]
§ Mr. MacShaneThe Government deeply regret the failure to achieve a settlement of the Cyprus problem before Cyprus' signature of its EU Accession Treaty. In the continuing absence of a comprehensive settlement, this is one of the issues that will have to be resolved before Cyprus' accession, within the framework established by the Cyprus protocol to the Accession Treaty.