PROGRESS IN CYPRUS

Early day motion 1592, tabled 7 September 2004 by Andrew Dismore (Labour). Signed by 20 members.

That this House believes that Cypriots want and need a settlement; welcomes the fact that Greek and Turkish Cypriot contacts continue and crossings of the Green Line increase; supports moves to open up more checkpoints to facilitate this; welcomes the north-south on-island trade which the new EU regulations attempt to encourage and notes that over 10,000 Turkish Cypriots now travel to work in the south; notes that the church services conducted in Saint Mamas' church by the Bishop of Morphou for the first time in 30 years were attended by many Greek Cypriots from Morphou, and supported by the Turkish Cypriot This Country is Ours platform which moved its Peace Day celebration to Morphou and that the events were peaceful despite threats of violence and actual bomb damage to the church the previous week; welcomes the reconvening of the tripartite Committee on Missing Persons which could help ease the suffering of both Greek and Turkish Cypriots by identifying their relatives; congratulates the organisers of contracts between young Greek and Turkish Cypriot school students with plans to link schools in the north and south of the island; welcomes the fact that Greek and Turkish Cypriot mayors of Famagusta are discussing running Famagusta in partnership once that part of the seaside town of Famagusta under military control has been handed back to its Greek Cypriot residents; and calls on Turkey specifically, along with the whole international community, to support these substantive efforts towards a future and early reunification of the island.

Signatures by party: Labour 14, Conservative 2, Labour/Co-operative 2, Liberal Democrat 1, Plaid Cymru 1.