The President of the National Federation of Cypriots, Peter Droussiotis, has thrown the weight of the Federation behind the Cyprus Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ condemnation of meetings held at the House of Commons in London between the so-called foreign minister of the Turkish Cypriot puppet regime Ozdil Nami, and senior British MPs from the three main parties.
Mr Nami met with David Lidington MP (Minister for Europe), Gareth Thomas MP (Shadow Minister for Europe) and Rt Hon Simon Hughes MP (Minister of Justice and Liberal Democrat Party Chairman). In doing so, both Coalition parties and the Opposition party all met with a representative of an unrecognised, illegal state.
Mr Droussiotis, speaking on behalf of the Secretariat of the Federation, commented:
“These meetings are of grave concern to British Cypriots and the Government of the Republic of Cyprus, which is the sole legitimate authority on the island, because they risk lending credibility to the illegal, internationally unrecognised pseudo-regime in the northern territory of Cyprus which has been unlawfully occupied by the Turkish army since it invaded the island in 1974. Such meetings directly violate UN Security Council resolutions 541 and 550, and allowing these to take place is simply not acceptable behaviour from official representatives of the current Government and a potential future government of the UK, a Guarantor Power of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Cyprus.
“While HM Foreign Office states that the meeting between Mr Lidington and Mr Nami does not amount to recognition of the illegal administration in the north, I’m afraid that actions speak louder than words, especially only eight months prior to a General Election. British Cypriots need to know exactly where the UK political parties stand, and these meetings are completely at odds with the declared policies of such parties that they support the integrity of the island and UN-led efforts to reunite Cyprus as a single state with one international personality, a single sovereignty and a single citizenship.
“I have made strong representations to Messrs Lidington, Thomas and Hughes, on behalf of our community, asking for urgent explanations – the UK Cypriot community will not be satisfied with platitudes, we want proper assurances that such meetings will not be allowed to take place in the future and that Cyprus’s territorial integrity, as enshrined in international law, will be safeguarded by the British Government and HM official opposition.”