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10.32 am
Ms Joyce Quin (Gateshead, East): Like all other hon. Members who have spoken, I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Tooting (Mr. Cox) on applying for and being granted this Adjournment debate on Famagusta and Cyprus. Once again, my hon. Friend has revealed to the House his extensive knowledge of the situation in Famagusta and Cyprus and his arguments have been backed up by the very evident knowledge of all hon. Members from both sides of the House who have spoken.
Many of us feel that Cyprus does not, perhaps, command much public attention, although people might feel that they now know something about it, rather unexpectedly, because of the evil machinations of one Francis Urquhart in "The Final Cut".
We have heard a rather more accurate picture of events in Cyprus, and much genuine concern about the need to get the reunification process started again and some real progress, from hon. Members on both sides of the House. Many important points have been made in the debate and I echo the comment of my hon. Friend the Member for Tooting, and other hon. Members, who said that Famagusta-Varosha is the best place to begin the confidence-building process and progress towards the peaceful reunification of Cyprus.
The history of Famagusta-Varosha is a sad one, as has been pointed out. Although I have not visited the area or viewed it from the barbed wire, which the hon. Member for Edmonton (Dr. Twinn) described, I have none the less been struck by some of the accounts of
There is no doubt that Famagusta epitomises the tragedy of the separation and division in Cyprus. People in both communities have been deprived of their homes, indeed of their roots, and forced to move from places in which their families have lived for generations. Even today, people can go to the green line and see their home, but they cannot occupy it.
Like other hon. Members, I pay tribute to the mayor of Famagusta. It is striking that the structures of local government have been kept in place, despite the fact that Varosha is a ghost town. The spirit of a unified Cyprus, which remains strong, is embodied in the work of the mayor and his colleagues, who try to ensure that the community that they once represented in Famagusta survives and has some hope for the future.
As has been said, the area has become the focus of confidence-building measures in Cyprus--measures to try to create conditions for future reunification. It is still true, however, that the level of mistrust is very high. Indeed, I read only a week or so ago press reports of young people shouting insults to each other across the green line that divides the country. Perhaps it is not surprising, although it is highly regrettable, that there is a climate of bitterness--a climate that is not always conducive to long-term living together.
I am also struck, however, by the number of people in Cyprus who want to embark on the confidence-building approach and who see an opportunity to do so in the immediate future. I strongly agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Mrs. Roche), who drew attention not merely to the political but to the economic potential of such measures. As has been said, the area concerned had huge economic potential 20 years ago as a tourist resort and was a centre for service industries and other types of economic activity.
Confidence-building measures would be of immense importance to Turkish as well as to Greek Cypriots. The adjoining area of Turkish Cyprus is not well off economically. We hear many accounts of the increasing economic disparity between the Turkish and Greek Cypriot areas. Greek Cypriots are said to earn, on average, three times as much as Turkish Cypriots and the discrepancy seems to be growing. There is enormous economic potential that can be mobilised for the future.
I look forward to hearing what the Minister has to say in his reply. I hope that he can give us a progress report on the attempts to move towards confidence building and to finance some economic activity in the area. We know that money is available in the European Union for activities in the Mediterranean. Also, when Cyprus moves towards European Union membership, it will be eligible for EU support. I hope that the Minister will address that point.
In the past few days, we have read many accounts about the European Mediterranean agreement, which brings together a large number of Mediterranean members of the European Union and their neighbours. It includes Cyprus and Turkey as well as Greece, as a Mediterranean member of the European Union. We believe that that is an important framework which can be used to bring both political and economic benefits to the region. We applaud the fact that within the European Mediterranean agreement there are commitments to democracy, human rights and the rule of law as well as to free trade and economic co-operation. We are keen for that to be built on in future.
My hon. Friends have referred to the question of European Union membership for Cyprus. The Labour party is anxious to promote that as much as possible. Indeed, we hope to be in government when we welcome Cyprus into the European Union and to take part in the negotiations with Cyprus, which are due to start six months after the end of the intergovernmental conference which begins next year.
Cyprus's move towards membership of the European Union could be an important part of bringing about the peaceful reunification of the island. For that reason, we want progress. We are aware of the situation in respect of the customs union with Turkey. Although we will continue to express our grave worries about human rights in Turkey, we accept that some moves have been made.
We also understand the dangers of fundamentalism in Turkey and of Turkey's looking too much to the east, rather than the west. I accept those points, but none the less reiterate what my hon. Friend the Member for Hornsey and Wood Green said and hope that the Government, as well as the United States, will put pressure on Turkey not only in respect of human rights but to adopt a favourable attitude toward Cyprus's membership of the European Union. As several hon. Members have said, we do not want Turkey to have a veto over Cyprus's membership of the European Union. European Union membership can be part of the solution to the Cyprus problem and we must keep that in mind.
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. David Davis):
Cyprus matters to the United Kingdom. It is rightly the regular focus of attention in the House and the hon. Member for Tooting (Mr. Cox) has found an ingenious and appropriate avenue for the discussion of the problem of Cyprus. I congratulate him on that and join him in welcoming the mayor of Famagusta to our proceedings.
This has been a wide-ranging and rather long debate, so I shall be pressed for time. To a large extent, it has also been measured and well informed. I commend hon. Members for that. My hon. Friend the Member for Edmonton (Dr. Twinn) made a particularly wise contribution.
Famagusta is a window on the serious problems that beset the island of Cyprus. The city, as many hon. Members have said, is a symbol of the long dispute between the two communities--a dispute which has led to the tragic division of the island. The hon. Member for Tooting ranged wide in his speech. The House has said that it expects me to range beyond the troubled boundaries of Famagusta and to recap on Government policy on Cyprus. Indeed, the hon. Member for Tooting asked me what we are doing to promote a settlement. I shall, in the time available, endeavour to answer as many questions as I can on those subjects.
The natural advantage of a good harbour has meant that Famagusta has been at the centre of events that have shaped the eastern Mediterranean. The ancient walled city has been the target of many imperial ambitions. As one
of the main emporiums of the Levant in the middle ages, it is not surprising that it became an ethnic and religious melting pot. It is, of course, the "Sea-port Town in Cyprus", the backdrop to the "Cyprus Wars" in "Othello". It is no stranger to war--tens of thousands perished on both sides in the siege laid by the Ottomans in 1570-71, to which the hon. Member for Knowsley, South (Mr. O'Hara) referred.
Famagusta retained its economic importance into modern times. In 1960, when Cyprus became independent, it was the island's third city with large Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities. The modern commercial town facing the beach became a tourist riviera and thus a significant contributor to the Cypriot economy. The city was the island's principal port until 1974.
The fate of Famagusta and the suburb of Varosha, or New Famagusta--I am grateful to the hon. Member for Knowsley, South for explaining the details of those names--after the Turkish intervention touches a raw nerve for many Cypriots. Its significance for both communities is not difficult to understand. The walled city of Famagusta was a Turkish Cypriot enclave which endured its share of sufferings in the intercommunal violence of the 1960s and 1970s. The 35,000 people who fled Varosha in August 1974 were a substantial portion of the total number of Greek Cypriots displaced during the tragic events of that summer.
The Turkish decision to fence off Varosha and effectively prevent any settlement has created, as many hon. Members have said, one of the strangest sights in Europe. The spectacle of crumbling luxury apartments left to rot for the past 21 years--a ghost town, as hon. Members have called it--is a symbol of the Cyprus problem.
Who has benefited from this monument to waste?
Certainly not the Greek Cypriots, who have been deprived of their property for so long; nor the Turkish side, which has to guard a decaying ghost town. It might seem perverse that the international community insists that Varosha, as a fenced-off area with no settlement, retains its special status, but the fact that it is a closed area keeps alive the hope that, one day, its original inhabitants might return.
The Security Council of the United Nations, in its resolution 414 of 15 September 1977, made clear its concern that any moves by Turkish Cypriots to settle Varosha would harm the prospects for a settlement. That is still the position today. The international community has been periodically alarmed by reports of plans to move into parts of Varosha. We continue to believe that any action of that sort in the absence of a settlement would be a setback.
Against that background, it is not hard to understand why Varosha has been at the centre of efforts to reconcile the two communities since 1974. In the sad logic of prolonged disputes, the simple fact is that the Turkish side has something which the other side wants back. In the aftermath of the events of 1974, there were hopes that a solution to Varosha could be found quickly. We have heard a good account of that from the hon. Member for Tooting. As a closed area, there were no serious practical obstacles to handing Varosha back, but repeated efforts to make progress have yet to find an acceptable means to end this absurdity once and for all.
There have been various ideas for resettlement under United Nations control. Indeed, each phase of the all too fitful intercommunal talks has involved a negotiating package for Varosha. Just over a year ago, it seemed that both communities were finally prepared to commit themselves to arrangements which would allow Varosha to come alive again.
During 1993-94, the United Nations Secretary-General and his representatives worked with both communities on a package of confidence-building measures, or CBMs in the Foreign Office jargon. The proposals envisage the resettlement of Varosha as an area for bi-communal contacts and enterprise and the reopening of Nicosia international airport. Both would remain under United Nations control. The package contained real benefits for both communities. The United Nations worked non-stop to close the gap between the sides. Unfortunately, in the end, neither side managed to seize the opportunity. Success would have cleared the way for direct contacts on the basis of a settlement.
Failure meant each side retreating into familiar recriminations. In June 1994, Mr. Denktash set out-- admittedly at a very late stage--the circumstances under which he could accept implementation of the confidence-building measures. I can well understand the frustrations of the Greek Cypriot side at that response. I can understand that, after months of waiting for Mr. Denktash to say yes, they felt frustrated when he replied, "Yes, but".
"palm trees piercing through cracked tennis courts and leaning on crumbling rat-infested seaside villas",
and
"here a padlocked Barclays Bank . . . there a gutted sandwich shop listing the prices of 20 years ago".
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