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European Affairs

It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Ribble Valley (Mr. Evans), and I pay tribute to him for his wide-ranging speech. When my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond, Yorks (Mr. Hague) spoke on behalf of the Opposition at the beginning of the debate, he was concerned that the debate was developing in a ritualistic form in its early stages. The speech given by my hon. Friend the Member for Ribble Valley, however, was wide-ranging and covered many areas of concern in relation to Europe. I support my hon. Friend's comments about Turkey and its progress towards accession into the EU. It is important that the goalposts that have been set are not moved during the accession negotiations. One of those goalposts has to do with Cyprus, and the need to move to reunification of that island. In an animated speech, the hon. Member for North-East Derbyshire (Natascha Engel) recounted her childhood memories of Berlin. She talked about a divided city, a city of walls where there was a lack of freedom of movement and travel, and sadly, that reminded me of the situation in Cyprus. The island is one of the EU's member states, but many of the concerns facing Greek and Turkish Cypriots closely resemble those that she described. The question of Cyprus is relevant to this debate because the EU's General Affairs and External Relations Council made particular reference to the island only yesterday, and also because of the concerns about Turkey's accession to Europe. The Council expressed regret at Turkey's failure to implement the additional protocol to the Ankara agreement—one of the goalposts that have been set in place. It called on Ankara to take urgent measures in that direction and to normalise its relationship with the Republic of Cyprus. One of the blockages in the accession negotiations is the full implementation of the customs union agreement with the EU. If that legal agreement were implemented, it would allow Cypriot ships to use Turkish ports and fly the Cyprus flag. That element of the customs union agreement will be reviewed in the summer. The legal agreement needs to be looked at separately from the issues relating to Cyprus, but it is a key stepping stone in the process of Turkish accession to the EU. The Council also noted the importance of getting a just solution to the Cyprus problem on the basis of relevant UN Security Council resolutions. That is of great interest to the House and to the Government. I know that the Minister for Europe went to Cyprus shortly after her appointment, and no doubt she will be able to give the House the benefit of her experience when she responds to the debate. The Government are a guarantor power for Cyprus and so clearly have an interest in what happens with the island. Another reason for their interest is that there is a widespread diaspora of Cypriots in this country. Many of them, both Greek and Turkish Cypriots, landed in my constituency and have stayed there. Beyond that, the British Government have a strategic interest in Cyprus as a result of its location, and because we have sovereign bases there. Cyprus is also visited very often, indeed predominantly, by British citizens, many of whom choose to stay in the country. In addition, Britain's commercial interests in the island are very much to the fore. As an aside, I note that the pre-Budget report's announcement on air passenger duty has created another type of division in Cyprus. The 2,000-mile limit means that people can fly to Larnaca without the duty being imposed, whereas it is imposed on those who fly just a little further to Paphos. The Government have thereby created a disincentive for the tourist industry in Paphos, and I hope that they rectify it. However, the division in Cyprus goes way beyond concerns about air passenger duty. The island has faced problems and tensions for 45 years. I do not propose to go through its history today, but it is important to look at the European dimension to Cyprus, which joined the EU on 1 May 2004. It joined as a divided island, but I want to make it clear that the whole island is in the EU, although EU legislation and the rest of the acquis communautaire are suspended in the north until a solution is found. Turkish Cypriots are European Union citizens; they are citizens of a member state, the Republic of Cyprus. The concern that everyone has is how we can move towards solving the Cyprus problem. It is a question that I am often asked on the doorstep in my constituency, and I receive a number of communications on it. Indeed, just yesterday I received a communication from a local Cypriot on the Cyprus problem. His letter concluded that"““the Cyprus conflict is like the Gordian knot and can not be undone, in a million years. It is doomed and cursed to be the headache of all concerned.””" Sadly, that is the view of one constituent, but it is not shared by other constituents, and certainly not by leaders in Cyprus. Indeed, the prospects for solving the Cyprus problem have in many ways never looked better. We have the best opportunity to reach a solution. President Demetris Christofias said at the beginning of his presidency that his priority was to end the division of the island. He began talks with Mehmet Ali Talat, the leader of the Turkish Cypriots. They have a close personal and political relationship. Indeed, earlier in the debate we were talking about Euro-communists; President Christofias may well want to align himself with them. The reality is that it is in the interests of those of all political creeds and races to seek a solution to the Cyprus problem. The early signs were good; in a hugely symbolic gesture, barriers came down in Ledra street, a key thoroughfare in Nicosia, on 3 April 2008. That was significant. Formal talks began and are ongoing. At the beginning of the meetings on 3 September, Alexander Downer, the UN's new envoy to Cyprus, said:"““It's going to take a long time and it's going to be a difficult negotiation…But what you have here is the political will, and the political will is very good.””" Together with other hon. Members from the British Friends of Cyprus committee, I went to Cyprus two weeks ago and saw that political good will. We were not encumbered by the air passenger duty. We saw for ourselves the state of play as regards the talks. We certainly saw good will on both sides. It is clear that the outline of a settlement has been agreed. Under that settlement, Cyprus would be a bi-communal, bi-zonal, federal state that respects a single sovereignty and has a single political identity. The talks address very difficult questions, including the number of Turkish troops in what is probably the most militarised area in the world; the issue of settlers from mainland Turkey; and the issue of properties and the number of refugees who will be allowed to return to their pre-war homes. It was expected that the first chapter of the talks, on governance and power sharing, would have been dealt with by now. Unfortunately, they have taken longer than expected, and we expect the parties to move on to the next stage in a couple of weeks. They will then move on to the next chapter, on property—an issue on which there are many problems to be overcome. However, there is certainly good will, and we urge people to ensure that all steps are taken and all efforts made to reach a conclusion. Many would say that the current opportunity is the best there has been for decades, and we must do all we can to support it. During the visit, colleagues and I went to a number of areas, and I want briefly to reflect on them and my assessment of the situation. We went along the buffer zone—the green line—for 3 km. It was a desperately sad experience; it would have been so in any buffer zone, but it was tragic in Cyprus. We saw on both sides of the zone parts of the city of Nicosia that have been frozen in time and are crumbling. On each side, the Cypriot national guard and the Turkish army look at each other. The tragedy was strangely tempered by a visit further along the buffer zone to the United Nations missing persons laboratory. On the one hand, it is an extremely sad situation, as many Turkish and Greek Cypriots went missing during the conflict. On the other hand, that deeply tragic situation contains the seeds of hope and, indeed, reconciliation. A project has been started on a bicommunal basis, and it is making progress. The donors—the United Kingdom, Greece, Turkey and Germany—have provided funding of €2.4 million to try to ensure that the truth about missing persons comes out. We heard that progress has been made. Since 2006, the remains of more than 450 people who lost their lives have been found, and 107 have been identified. It is hoped that over the next year a further 300 will be identified to allow families who have lost loved ones to be able to begin the grieving process after all those years. It is immensely encouraging that the project is led by the committee on a bicommunal basis. Indeed, the technicians and scientists at the laboratory come from both communities, which points the way forward for the future, and casts doubt on the communication from my Cypriot constituent saying that there was no hope in a million years, because hope has already been found by that committee and by those technicians. The other positive sign is what has taken place on Ledra street, which I mentioned. The opening took place on 3 April. It was closed for 44 years, and its opening is a confidence-building measure. The opportunity naturally to go from one side of Nicosia to the other and to be able to communicate with both communities—both communities can communicate and trade with each other, and have some normal relations—is welcome. However, it would be so much more of a confidence-building measure if it was not necessary for Cypriots to show a passport on the way through. I spoke to a councillor in Nicosia, Mrs. Kommatsis, who is in charge of the cultural restoration of Nicosia. She is a proud Cypriot and Nicosian, but she does not feel able to make that crossing, because she would have to show her passport. She considers that Cyprus as a whole is her country, and that she should not have to do so. It would be a significant confidence-building measure if passport controls were relaxed for Cypriots and EU citizens, to allow free movement, about which the hon. Member for North-East Derbyshire spoke, and which her family no doubt desperately wanted in Berlin. There were other positive signs of restoration work in Nicosia, and it was good to see them. It was good, too, to talk to the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Education and Culture in Cyprus, and to hear about the creation of a culture of peaceful coexistence and understanding. That unit is particularly trying to understand the identity of both communities and, for the first time, it has made it an absolute priority, in relation to literature and culture, to ensure that schoolchildren better understand other communities, whether they be Greek Cypriot or Turkish Cypriot communities. Work is also under way in relation to historical dialogue, to ensure that history is properly reflected, so that as Cypriots move to the future there can be greater reconciliation. Citizenship education, too, is under way. Those are all positive signs, but we are concerned that greater progress should be made. The Council of the European Union has provided assistance to the north. On 26 April 2004, the General Affairs and External Relations Council declared:"““The Turkish Cypriot community have expressed their clear desire for a future within the European Union. The Council is determined to put an end to the isolation of the Turkish Cypriot community and to facilitate the reunification of Cyprus by encouraging the economic development of the Turkish Cypriot community. The Council invited the Commission to bring forward comprehensive proposals to this end with particular emphasis on the economic integration of the island and on improving contact between the two communities and with the EU.””" Real cash was provided in the form of €259 million, of which €50 million has been spent. It is important that that sum is spent on confidence-building measures to bring the communities together, not least in the area of cultural heritage. I was able to see for myself the damage and desecration that has taken place when I visited the Maronite community of Cyprus in the north. The Maronite community is an integral part of the island and has had a presence in Cyprus since 900 AD. Their language, Aramaic, is part of their liturgy, and—this is appropriate just before Christmas—it was used by Jesus and his family. According to historical documents, there were 64 Maronite villages with a population of about 80,000 people, making it the second largest community in Cyprus after the Greek Cypriot community. Over the years of persecution, the number of Maronites living in Cyprus decreased to 500 and the number of villages decreased to four. I was able to visit two of those four villages, Kormakitis and Karpashia. Sadly, I was unable to visit Ayia Marina and Asomatos, because they are part of a Turkish military zone. The representative of the Maronite community, who has observer status in the Parliament in northern Cyprus, made the case that it would be a significant confidence-building measure if the Turkish army were to relocate from the two Maronite villages, Ayia Marina and Asomatos, and allow Maronites to return. It was positive to see rebuilding taking place in the village of Kormakitis. Maronites are coming back, but they must be encouraged further. The Maronite community considers itself a minority community caught in the middle of an international conflict. As a religious minority with a 1,000-year history on the island, it wants its rights to be respected.