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9.55 am
Dr. Ian Twinn (Edmonton): I congratulate the hon. Member for Tooting (Mr. Cox) on obtaining the debate, and thank you, Madam Speaker, for granting it. A debate on Famagusta and its occupation for 21 years by Turkish troops is long overdue. But before I make my speech I declare an interest, in that my family and I were the guests
of the town council and the mayor of Famagusta for three days in the summer--although, sadly, we could not reach Famagusta itself.
Famagusta was the third largest city in Cyprus, with 60,000 people in its municipal area. Those people are now refugees--some living in other parts of Cyprus, some in my constituency in north London, some in Australia and some in the United States. They are spread around the world, and they have not been back to their homes.
I have not been to Famagusta itself, but like the hon. Member for Tooting I have stood at the barbed wire, looked down into the town and talked to the United Nations troops who keep us out. I have seen the Turkish troop emplacements keeping watch on us as we look down at the ghost town of Varosha, a suburb of Famagusta that was cynically fenced off by the Turks so that it could not be occupied.
Varosha now stands crumbling and overgrown; in people's homes the curtains blow in the wind and their goods--washing machines, televisions and other personal possessions--have been looted by Turkish troops. Family photographs still stand there in place.
I am sure that no hon. Member who meets refugees from anywhere in the world can fail to be moved by their personal circumstances, but Greek Cypriots can go to the dividing line, the green line, today and see their homes, their gardens and their fruit trees--but they cannot get to them. At the same time they know that their possessions are not being used by anyone else, but are being wasted in the most cynical way by the Turkish Cypriot administration that has taken possession of more than one third of the island of Cyprus.
That administration is unrecognised by anyone other than Turkey, which has tens of thousands of troops ensuring that it keeps possession of that part of the island. As many as 80,000 settlers have also been brought in from Turkey, in a mass movement of population unprecedented in 20th century Europe. The House should state firmly its total opposition to what has happened in Cyprus over the past 21 years.
The story of Famagusta is the story of Cyprus, and the House cannot discuss the town separately from the issue of what has happened in the whole of Cyprus. The future of Famagusta depends on the future of negotiations and on reaching a settlement which will allow Turkish and Greek Cypriots to live together in peace on their island. It is their island; it does not belong to the 80,000 settlers or to the 40,000 troops. It belongs to Cypriots.
As an officer of the Cyprus committee of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, along with the hon. Member for Tooting, I feel very strongly that I am here to argue for the interests of all Cypriots--not for Greek Cypriots and not for Turkish Cypriots. There is a balance to be achieved. Both communities in Cyprus have every right to expect to live their lives in peace and be able to go to their home areas, to enjoy their own property, whether they are Turkish Cypriots who cannot get down to Paphos where their land was, or Greek Cypriots who cannot get to Famagusta, Kyrenia or Morphou. None such restriction is acceptable. We have a duty to continue trying to achieve a solution in Cyprus which allows all Cypriots to enjoy their own island.
The history of the past 21 years in Cyprus is littered with messages of good will from politicians from around the world. We have already heard that it is littered with
UN resolutions. The UN resolutions cannot be objected to; they are wonderful and say exactly what we want to achieve. Yet 21 years on, we have achieved none of it.
Declarations of good will are not enough by themselves. Varosha is still a ghost town. The hotels along the beautiful Famagusta sea front are empty, and when people try to see them, even from the sea, Turkish gunboats appear to turn back local residents. The same is true of Morphou at the other end of the island. It is totally inaccessible to the people to whom it belongs. The same is true of Kyrenia since people fled from the original invasion, never to return and see their homes. We must ask our Government to do everything that they can in the world community to ensure that the Turkish troops and the settlers leave, and that Cyprus is returned to the people to whom it belongs.
None of that of course will be easy--we know that. We can go into great detail about the nature of the 1960s constitution, why it broke down and how the two communities failed to work together. But whatever conclusions we reach, wherever we want to apportion blame, some of the blame has to come back to Britain. We have a strong responsibility in Cyprus. We helped to construct the constitution. We have been close advisers in the post-independence era. We have a duty as one of the three guarantor powers of Cyprus to ensure that it is returned to democratic health and that Turkish and Greek Cypriots are able to enjoy their own land.
So we cannot stand back as a country, whatever some British people say they want. We cannot cynically stand back and allow Cyprus to carry on in the way that it has. Cyprus is divided; it is the only European country divided by barbed wire where troops keep two parts of the same population apart. The capital city of Nicosia is divided. It is a beautiful and wonderful city, and I have been privileged to see both sides of it in recent years. Indeed, I have seen both sides of the same street which had a derelict area in the middle. That is a heart-rending experience for anyone.
One day, I am absolutely sure that the nightmare of Cyprus will end. It is not a question whether Cyprus will remain divided for ever. That will not happen and those people who believe that an acceptable solution has been found in the division of Cyprus--we have heard such sentiments expressed from both sides of the House in the past--are deluding themselves. The interests between Greek and Turkish Cypriots are so strong, the island so small and the economic necessity of getting together so significant, that one day there will be a solution. Therefore, we must turn our minds to what can be done to bring the two communities together.
It is not right for us as foreign politicians in Cyprus to dictate the solution. The days of Britain doing that around the world are over--perhaps that is rather a good thing. We can, however, stand behind both communities and give them the reassurances that they need and ensure that any solution will be fair.
My involvement in Cyprus is very much concerned with helping in any way that I can to bring the two sides together and ensure that a solution becomes possible. I certainly do not accept Turkey's pre-eminent role in that region as being a barrier to a solution in Cyprus. I am afraid that too many people accept that the power which Turkey represents is too important to cross in a region where we look for stability. The occupation of Cyprus by troops is not legitimised by Turkey's obvious power.
While supporting both sides in efforts to get together for talks to try to reach conclusions on what a solution may be, we have at times all been guilty of encouraging the legitimate Government of Cyprus to make concessions, which have been readily accepted as a fact by the Turkish Cypriot Administration. But nothing reciprocal has followed and negotiations have broken down. In subsequent negotiations, the Government's concessions have been taken on board and more has been demanded. There has been a ratchet effect, which we saw with the confidence-building measures and the suggestion that one eighth of Famagusta--the fenced Varosha area-- should be made over to some sort of free town.
That was a good idea if it was to be based on moving forward to a solution for the whole of Cyprus. Many of us thought that if that area was just to stand alone as a small gesture, it was not worth having. I am afraid that we are in a such a position now. It is very difficult to imagine anyone putting their money into redeveloping the small, fenced area of Varosha, which would be surrounded by Turkish troops and have inadequate safe access for Greek Cypriots. It has been empty for 21 years, shrubs and trees grow in the roads, buildings are crumbling, and it would cost a lot of money and several years' work to make it inhabitable again.
I would like Famagusta--a much larger area than Varosha--made over as a free town. I would like it to become an economic free zone. It has a tremendous future. That change could happen regardless of whether it would lead to an immediate solution within Cyprus, provided that it was administered by the United Nations as a UN town where there was equal access for both communities.
I speak purely in a personal capacity. As someone who believes passionately in the operations of the free market, perhaps the House will forgive me for thinking that it is a jolly good chance to demonstrate that the free market can bring together people of two communities. Such a move cannot happen with just Varosha because it is too small and insecure for people to commit their capital to it. But that is not what we should be arguing about today. We should be arguing about achieving a solution in Cyprus, not only Famagusta. I do not want Famagusta to be traded off to allow the rest of the northern part of Cyprus to remain occupied--that is not acceptable.
I have been impressed over the years by the position taken by my right hon. and hon. Friends in the Government, who have readily understood that Britain has a moral duty in Cyprus and that the status quo in Cyprus is not acceptable. That has to be countered by the fact that we are not a power which can tell the Turks, with the use of military might, to go back where they came from. We have to work in co-operation with our European Union partners and I am glad that we are.
I am also pleased that a firm commitment has been made to begin negotiations six months after the intergovernmental conference, and that Cyprus can look forward to joining the European Union whether or not the Turkish Cypriots want to join. I would much rather the Turkish Cypriots were part of it. None the less, no one can be allowed to blackmail processes surrounding Cyprus's entry into the EU.
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