House of Commons Leader Andrew Lansley has described a Joint Communiqué by Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades and British Prime Minister David Cameron, issued after their meeting in London on Wednesday, as important, adding that the meeting of the two leaders was very welcome.
“I hope that as a result, there will be opportunities for my ministerial colleagues in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to set out further details relating to this matter,” Lansley said, replying to a question by Conservative MP David Burrowes during a parliament debate.
Burrowes had asked Lansley to make a statement following the visit of the President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades to London, which resulted in a significant =Joint Communiqué that reaffirmed the active commitment of the Prime Minister and the President to a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem..
“Significantly, it included an agreement to allow property development within the sovereign base areas. Does not that demonstrate that the British Government is a true friend of Cyprus?” Burrowes added in his question.
In their Joint Communiqué the two leaders “reaffirmed their active commitment to a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem, which would bring political, economic, and social benefits to the island and the region.” Moreover they expressed their support to “a settlement agreed under the auspices of the UN Secretary General, based on the United Nations Charter and the UN Security Council Resolutions on Cyprus, as well as on the principles upon which the EU is founded, for a State of Cyprus with a single sovereignty, single international personality and a single citizenship, in a bicommunal, bizonal federation with political equality, as described in the relevant UNSCRs.”
An agreement to lift the restrictions in developing properties within the British bases areas was signed during Anastasiades’ visit to London. The agreement was signed between Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides and British Foreign Secretary William Hague. The right of the owners to develop their land concerns 15 local administrative units, which make up 78% of the total area of the bases.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory.
Britain, a former colonial power, has retained two military bases in Cyprus after it granted the island its independence in 1960