The British Labour Party’s Shadow Foreign Minister Catherine West had reiterated her party’s support for a settlement of the Cyprus issue in line with the UN Security Council resolutions calling for a bizonal, bicommunal federation.
West, a north London Member of Parliament, spoke to the Cyprus News Agency following a debate in Westminster Hall last week on human rights in Turkey, prompted mainly by prosecutions against politicians of Kurdish decent.
During the debate, Scottish National Party’s MP Alyn Smith made reference to the ongoing Turkish occupation of the northern part of Cyprus. West agreed with the concerns raised by her colleague.
“I remain very concerned about developments in the debate around the future in Cyprus. The Labour Party is very committed to the UN resolutions which call for a bizonal, bicommunal federation. There is no serious support at international level for a two-state solution. There may be a proposal by the Turkish side, but the Labour view is we need to support the two parties to come up with a way of bringing forward the BBF which is the reunification principle outlined for years now by the UN,” said the Shadow Foreign Minister.
She noted that during the 2017 settlement talks held in Crans-Montana, the Labour Party strongly supported the negotiations, hoping for a solution. Noting the new Turkish Cypriot approach following the then community leader Mr Akinci’s replacement, West commented that “it is very important we don’t move away from the UN resolutions.”
She added: “It is very important we don’t just suddenly change the game because time has passed. We remain committed to the reunification principle and we want to support both sides to get round to the table to develop this solution in any way they can. But it must be parallel with the UN resolutions, which for a very good reason have come up with the wording they have.”
Catherine West also referred to the main topics of the parliamentary debate regarding human rights in Turkey. She highlighted concerns about indictments against and detention of the leadership of the HDP Kurdish party, 154 opposition lawmakers and 48 regional mayors, predominantly of Kurdish descent.
She also stressed the issue of the respect of the rights of women, noting that the debate heard that femicides in Turkey have risen by 1,400%. Lastly, she underlined the need for Turkish authorities to respect freedom of press and freedom of expression, pointing to the record number of journalists and academics behind bars in the country.
Asked about Ankara’s threatening rhetoric against Cyprus and Greece, West commented that there needs to be a definition of what ‘Global Britain’ means following the UK’s exit from the EU. As she noted, during the debate MPs from all parties called upon the UK Government to re-examine relations with Turkey, based on the rule of law and democratic values.
“We would like to see a more robust reaction by the British government. We need to be able to express our concerns to our friends,” she said.
Noting the important role that Turkey has played in hosting millions of refugees, she added that in a bilateral relationship there needs to be praise and concern where it’s due. “This is what foreign policy is about, trying to get the balance right between being a critical friend but also recognising elements of best practices in a country,” concluded Labour’s Shadow Foreign Minister.
Source: Cyprus News Agency