§ Lord Maginnis of Drumglassasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will define "legal points of entry" in respect of the island of Cyprus; and whether United Kingdom citizens and members of the Turkish Cypriot community living or travelling into or through ports or airports in Northern Cyprus are liable to restrictions at Green Line crossings. [HL2990]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanIt is not for the British Government to define "legal points of entry" to Cyprus.
On 28 April the EU agreed a new regulation setting out arrangements for movement across the so-called Green Line. The regulation established special rules concerning the crossing of goods, services and persons.
The regulation states, inter alia, that "it is necessary to enable EU citizens to exercise their rights of free movement within the EU and set the minimum rules for carrying out checks on persons at the line and to ensure the effective surveillance of it, in order to combat the illegal immigration of third country nationals as well as any threat to public security and public policy. It is also necessary to define the conditions under which third country nationals are allowed to cross the line".
As long as it is consistent with the provisions of the Green Line regulation (set out above), and allows all EU citizens including Turkish Cypriots to exercise their rights of free movement, it is a matter for the Cypriot authorities to decide what checks and controls they put in place regarding movement across the line.