§ Mr. JenkinTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what effect the handover of land under the offer made by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the revised 3rd draft of the Kofi Annan plan for a comprehensive settlement in Cyprus is expected to have on the operation of the British sovereign base areas in Cyprus; and if he will make a statement; [100267]
(2) what land is to be handed over under the offer made by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the revised 3rd draft of the Kofi Annan plan for a comprehensive settlement in Cyprus; what assets and facilities are situated there; what that land is used for; and if he will make a statement. [100268]
§ Mr. HoonIn order to help secure a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem, the Government decided to offer accede parts of the United Kingdom's Sovereign Base Areas (SBAs) which are no longer essential for military purposes. The offer consists of 45 square miles, just under half of the total area of the SBAs.
The areas in question are mainly agricultural and residential and do not contain military infrastructure. There will be no adverse impact on the ability of British Forces Cyprus to carry out its tasks. We will also 1029W continue to perform the same tasks of civil administration in the areas remaining within the SBAs. Our offer was made within the context of UN negotiations to bring about a settlement and is conditional on the settlement being adopted and ratified by all parties. If either side rejects the UN proposals, or the proposals are rejected in a referendum by either side, the offer will become null and void.