Although only limited progress was achieved at the latest round of talks between the leaders of the two communities in Cyprus and the UN Secretary General, the process has not ended, Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Lord Howell has said.
He added that the UN Secretary General has called for a decisive move to reach a final agreement and will provide a report to the Security Council at the end of February.
Howell was answering a question by Lord Sharkey, who asked whether, in the light of the UN Secretary General`s comments on the lack of progress on the future of Cyprus, the British government will now consider recognising the pseudostate in the Turkish occupied areas of Cyprus.
Answering another question by Lord Sharkey if the Minister agreed with former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw that it is time for the UK government to consider formally the partition of Cyprus if the talks fail, as expressed in an article in the Times on 8 November 2010, Lord Howell said, “No, I do not. Jack Straw is not a member of the current government and his comments were made in a private capacity as an MP