Brexit: Northern Cyprus

Lord Collins of Highbury Excerpts

Thursday 14th September 2017 Lords Chamber

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

My Lords, I agree totally with the Minister’s response: of course, the conditions in Cyprus and the social and community divisions can be resolved only by the two parties ultimately coming together. Any action that could frustrate that would be wrong, so I support the Minister. However, this week at the opening session of the General Assembly, the United Nations Secretary-General talked about his willingness for talks to resume. We have also heard the Cypriot president say that he is willing for talks to resume, based on the United Nations conditions. Can the noble Baroness update us on what has been happening at this week’s General Assembly?

[Baroness Goldie]

The general position of the United Kingdom is that we continue to support all efforts towards a just and lasting Cyprus settlement on both a bilateral basis, in so far as that is available to us, and, of course, within the forum of the United Nations. We are encouraging both sides to reflect calmly on the way forward and see rhetoric as serving only to limit the possibility of future talks towards a settlement. The UK is contributing in a number of ways, including through our deployment of military personnel to the peacekeeping force.