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12.8 pm
Mr. Derek Fatchett (Leeds, Central): I congratulate the hon. Member for Hendon, South (Mr. Marshall) on bringing the issue to the House. The debate is crucial, as we must discharge a responsibility that in many respects rests here in Westminster with the Government. I must apologise to the House on behalf of my hon. Friend the Member for Gateshead, East (Ms Quin), who has been detained in Europe on European business--the Minister is probably delighted to be so detained on some occasions, if not others--and is unable to join us for the debate this morning.
Every hon. Member has talked graphically of the personal stress caused by the division of the island of Cyprus. They are right to do so and all of us, either through constituency cases or, as in my case through personal contacts, can talk in exact terms about the personal loss, stress and bad memories that people will take with them for many years.
In his closing remarks, the hon. Member for Wyre Forest (Mr. Coombs) summed up well the important points that result from those divisions. First, there is a real danger of allowing the dispute and division to become institutionalised and the status quo to become normality for Cyprus. That imposes a responsibility on all of us to ensure that we are always trying to find a peaceful solution to the problem. If we allow the status quo to become institutionalised, two further risks are involved.
First, there is a substantial differential between living standards in the Turkish and Greek parts of the island, which will widen. We all know and understand the reasons for it, but it is unhealthy to have people with such wide differences in living standards living just a few miles from one another. In his opening comments, the hon. Member for Hendon, South referred to per capita income of $12,000 per year. The figure for the Turkish-controlled part of Cyprus is never very accurate and is usually never available, but would not be anywhere near that. We therefore need to do something about the economic imbalance.
As several hon. Members said, we also need to do something about the fact that too much money is spent on arms and too many people are involved in what is potentially an armed conflict. We need to avoid that, to demilitarise and to de-escalate. By maintaining the status quo, we always run the risk of moving in the direction of such a conflict.
Everyone has referred to the 1,600 missing people. The hon. Member for Hendon, South was right to refer to Mr. Denktash's weekend announcement about them.It seemed remarkably cold and callous to make the announcement in that context and without giving the relatives any indication of what has happened to their loved ones or of where their bodies can be found.The statement did not seem likely to build up trust between the communities. I hope that at some stage soon,Mr. Denktash and his authority can use the opportunity to make the information readily available to the Cypriot community so that people know exactly what has happened to their relatives.
My hon. Friend the Member for Knowsley, South(Mr. O'Hara) displayed a remarkable optimism in his speech. I welcome optimism--those of us who have been in Labour party politics for many years have that as an endearing characteristic and perhaps that optimism is desperately necessary in the context of Cyprus. My hon. Friend was right to point out that we need a twin-track approach to push the Cyprus peace process along. He was also right to say that the Americans have a crucial role to play. I welcome the fact that President Clinton, above all other American Presidents, has recognised that Cyprus is an important political issue and put it on the map. I hope that he will continue to do so throughout and beyond election year, if he is successful in gaining re-election.
Richard Holbrooke has become a key player and we need to look for a Dayton process, which is the way to make progress. I note that Holbrooke has talked of three important conditions. I agree with those, but would add a fourth. Holbrooke said, first, that the leaders must have the authority to negotiate. That means that we need strong leadership and leadership in which the communities have trust. Secondly, he said that there is a necessity to remain at the table indefinitely, until we reach a solution. Again, that is a question of commitment on the part of all those involved in the negotiations. Thirdly--something that is crucially important in the Cyprus context--we need to maintain confidentiality. Hitherto, there has been no great success in maintaining the confidentiality of the discussions.
I would add a fourth condition, which is that confidence building and demilitarisation, to which all hon. Members have referred, is of crucial importance. It is almost a pre-condition to getting the talks started. We need to build up trust between communities. Throughout the world,
wherever there are divisions between communities, whether on ethnic or religious grounds or a mixture of the two, the only way to make progress, flesh out and add spirit to the meat of such negotiations is through confidence-building measures in the various communities. That is an important part of the process. We wish the negotiations well. I hope that my hon. Friend the Member for Knowsley, South is right to be optimistic. We have to do all we can to push the process along.
The other track is that of the European Union, and it is important for the EU to continue to emphasise its role and for Britain to emphasise its unique role as regards Cyprus and the responsibilities of the EU. I look forward to hearing what the Minister has to say in that respect.We can and should give a lead on the issue.
I wish Cyprus well in its application for EU membership and it seems to meet most of the economic criteria. I think that it is in danger of being one of the few countries that would meet the Maastricht criteria--that may well be a mixed blessing for its economy in the future. My hon. Friend the Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Mrs. Roche) said that EU membership is essential to Cyprus. That may well be so, but it is not an alternative to a long-term peace solution; it is an addition to a long-term peace settlement. Logically, we must always bear in mind the fact that it is important to see EU membership as an addition. The Opposition would certainly not give Turkey the right to veto such membership.
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. David Davis):
I must also congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon, South (Mr. Marshall) on his consistent good fortune in the ballot for Adjournment debates. The House has rightly debated Cyprus many times, often in debates under his sponsorship.
We have heard many excellent speeches from hon. Members on both sides of the House--the wisdom that we have come to expect from my hon. Friend the Member for Edmonton (Dr. Twinn), the sharp clarity of my hon. Friend the Member for Wyre Forest (Mr. Coombs) and concise common sense from my hon. Friend the Member for Finchley (Mr. Booth). I look forward to receiving a copy of the poem from the hon. Member for Knowsley, South (Mr. O'Hara). I also welcome--this may seem unusual, but in this context I think that it is right--the hon. Member for Leeds, Central (Mr. Fatchett) if not to his baptism of fire, to his maiden speech on the subject. He showed great common sense.
As other hon. Members have had so much to say,I shall have to be extremely brisk. My remarks are still well meant for all that, however. As everyone has recognised, Britain has a special place in Cyprus and vice versa. The large Cypriot community is part of the landscape of British society and the island of Cyprus has a special place in the hearts of millions of British people. The history of our close ties does not need recounting here--I have recounted it on at least two previous occasions. The closeness between the two countries means that we shall always be centrally involved in work to end the divisions on the island. The presence and contribution of so many Cypriots in Britain mean that we feel the tragedy of division all the more acutely.
The House has heard of Mr. Denktash's sudden illness and will wish to join me in wishing him a full and speedy recovery. The leaders of both communities play a central role in the search for a settlement. The recognition question, of course, colours the nature of our contacts with each leader, but it is essential that we listen carefully to the concerns of both communities, as several hon. Members have said. We shall continue to maintain contact with both leaders.
At times, the job of bridge-builder in Cyprus would try the perseverance of Sisyphus. I am sure that the hon. Member for Knowsley, South could give us an appropriate classical quotation. The divisions have gone on too long. The world has seen progress in other seemingly intractable and long-running disputes, so why not in Cyprus? I understand the impatience of hon. Members for progress in Cyprus. Cypriots themselves are understandably anxious for new initiatives to break the deadlock. However, neither we, the UN, the EU nor any other outside body has the solution in its hands. Only the two communities can decide what is acceptable and what arrangements are likely to last. The rest of us cannot laze around under the "tree of idleness" depicted so memorably by Lawrence Durrell in "Bitter Lemons", but our role is to offer advice, objective counsel and imaginative encouragement, not to impose a blueprint.
There has been a tendency to forget or belittle the painstaking work of the UN to bring the sides together. Talk, perhaps understandably, has been more of the prospect of accession to the European Union. I shall come on to the role of the EU a little later, but it would be a mistake to allow the UN's work to fade into the background as it remains a key reference point for negotiators in both communities. I am struck, for instance, by how central the principles of the 1992 UN set of ideas are to any discussion on the island about the Cyprus problem. The Government firmly believe that the ideas explored in the UN-led negotiations over the years will remain the building blocks of a settlement.
The United Nations has been closely involved in the question of people missing following the tragedy of 1974. No discussion of Cyprus can ignore a question that is rightly a source of anguish to many Cypriots. I know from today's debate and many others that that subject concerns the House. We recognise that it has caused untold suffering over the years. It is in the interest of both sides that the issue should be resolved as soon as possible.
The best way to do that, as the hon. Member for Leeds, Central suggested, is through the UN committee on missing persons. It is encouraging that the committee has persuaded both communities to submit details of missing relatives.We must allow it to carry on its painstaking work, which we
repeatedly urge both sides to do their utmost to facilitate. We have noted Mr. Denktash's remarks in that context and the Government of course deplore the atrocities that have been committed in Cyprus. If he has any information, new or old, we trust that he will pass it to the UN committee on missing persons. We repeatedly urge both sides to do their utmost to facilitate the committee's work, as was noted by the hon. Member for Leeds, Central, by my hon. Friends the Members for Edmonton and for Hendon, South and by other hon. Members.
The UN's contribution to security in Cyprus through UNFICYP remains as important as ever. A walk through the buffer zone in Nicosia is enough, as has been said, to bring home the importance of UNFICYP's work. We can take some pride in the fact that Britain has been a major contributor to UNFICYP since its inception and that our contingent's present role in the sensitive Nicosia area is especially important. There is more to UNFICYP than security. Its humanitarian work has provided an important stimulus to both communities to improve the living conditions of the Greek Cypriots and Maronites living in the north and the Turkish Cypriots living in the south.
There is still some way to go. We see no reason to maintain the remaining restrictions on the Greek Cypriot enclave in Karpas. We should also not forget that the 400 or so British soldiers who, together with their colleagues, make up UNFICYP play a crucial role in creating the conditions of peace and security in which a settlement can be pursued. I say this clearly because I want the point to be taken: they are emphatically not there to perpetuate the status quo.
On the last occasion that the House debated Cyprus, we discussed the confidence-building measures, to which several hon. Members referred. The talks led by the UN Secretary-General came close to agreement on the resettlement of Varosha and the re-opening of Nicosia international airport. Sadly, the CBMs were a missed opportunity. The reasons for their failure have been well documented, but it would be a shame if they sank irretrievably into mutual recrimination. We believe that the package of measures could still play a useful role in the work of overall settlement. My hon. Friend the Member for Hendon, South made that point most persuasively and was reinforced by the hon. Member for Knowsley, South.
Another important staging post was the direct talks between President Clerides and Mr. Denktash in October 1994. The imaginative approach adopted by President Clerides brought new hope. Mr. Denktash helpfully reaffirmed his commitment to a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation. Although those talks brought no concrete conclusions, they were a driving force for the confidential talks in London in May last year under the auspices of ourselves and the Americans. Their outcome was perhaps disappointing. The lesson from that experience is that nothing can be achieved in the full glare of publicity: privacy is vital to the success of such talks.
The task following the May talks was to ensure that the momentum was not lost. Our contacts with both communities sought to encourage a common perception of the sort of trade-offs needed to make real progress. Our high commissioner in Nicosia worked untiringly to maintain both communities' focus on the central issues. His efforts
and those of his US colleague and UN deputy special representative, Gus Feissel, proved invaluable for the visit to Cyprus in December by the US presidential emissary, Dick Beattie, who worked on a short round of shuttle diplomacy across the green line with modest expectations.
We were all heartened when it became apparent thatMr. Denktash was prepared, in certain circumstances, to support EU membership for Cyprus within the terms of a political settlement. Mr. Denktash acknowledged that this was a U-turn. We were heartened, too, that both leaders were still prepared to explore the ideas advanced by President Clerides in the last direct talks in October 1994.It was, of course, disappointing that Mr. Beattie's efforts did not make more progress, but the fact that the leaders were addressing issues at the heart of the dispute andMr. Denktash's response provide a more encouraging basis for progress than hitherto.
The European Union's role must be seen in perspective. The decision at the 6 March 1995 Foreign Affairs Council to open accession negotiations with Cyprus six months after the end of the intergovernmental conference was a milestone. It envisaged what we all want: Cyprus joining the EU on the basis of a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation.
Cypriots as a whole stand to gain significantly from EU membership. Both communities have a strong interest in finding an acceptable settlement, which we believe will bring EU accession within easy reach. That means hard work by both communities between now and the opening of accession negotiations. My hon. Friend the Member for Edmonton expressed the accession issues rather well. Both sides are aware that accession in the absence of a settlement, although by no means impossible, would be a much more difficult process and that neither side can insist on accession proceeding entirely on its own terms. There can be no veto.
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