CYPRUS AND THE STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH TURKEY

That this House notes the signing on 23rd October 2007 of a strategic partnership document between the UK and Turkey; recalls that 37 per cent. of the sovereign territory of Cyprus is occupied by the Turkish army; questions therefore whether those clauses which refer to maintaining high level contacts with the Turkish Cypriot authorities may be incompatible with, or even in violation of, successive UN resolutions, notably 541 and 550, to which the UK is a signatory; further questions how these measures will further the purposes of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the United Kingdom and Cyprus in 2005 and the even more recent Agreement of July 2006; and asks the Government to consider whether these clauses of this bilateral agreement between two of the guarantor powers for Cyprus are compatible with the UK Government's own responsibilities as a guarantor power.