Former UK MP supports two-state settlement

A FORMER British parliamentarian has stated that the best model for a Cyprus settlement is one based on two states.

Former Conservative MP and international lawyer Michael Stephen made the assertion during a 30-minute interview programme by the British Turkish Cypriot Association on Monday.

The programme was moderated by UKbased public relations consultant, political strategist and elections and campaigns director Jason MacKenzie.

Mr Stephen, a former adviser to founding TRNC President Rauf Denktaş, stated that the UK and the US “disregard the Turkish Cypriot community”.

Commenting on the role of Britain in Cyprus, Mr Stephen explained that the UK has been trying to maintain the status quo, and as such has been making efforts to encourage the Turkish Cypriots away from a two-state solution model, and bring them towards another version of the 2004 “Annan Plan”.

“The British government doesn’t care about Turkish Cypriots, [and] nor do the Americans,” he said. “Cyprus to them is just a strategic asset.”

He said London has ignored the “human rights violations and its own legal obligations” of the Turkish Cypriots and preferred to focus on “strategic benefits”.

The Sovereign Base Areas (SBAs) in Cyprus are the core reason why the UK has taken this approach, he said.

Mr Stephen blamed international actors – the UN and EU – for legitimising the Greek Cypriots and recognising them as the sole authority on the island, despite their efforts dating back to the 1960s to unite the island with Greece.

He said that even though Turkish Cypriots supported the Annan Plan for a federal Cyprus, the Greek Cypriot administration, backed by Greece, was granted EU membership despite overwhelmingly rejecting it in joint referendums.

Mr Stephen said that the UK could not support a decision to recognise the TRNC because doing so could put the status of the SBAs, which are also used by the US, at risk.

“[The UK] is trying to preserve the status quo, estrange Turkish Cypriots from the idea of two states and convince them of accepting an alternate version of the Annan Plan,” he added.

He also said that Scotland could have been allowed to be an independent country if it had chosen to do so, and questioned why Britain does not afford the same right to the Turkish Cypriots.

When asked about the Turkish Cypriots’ position at the “5+1” Geneva conference last month, Mr Stephen argued that there was “nothing to gain” by going to Geneva, and that there is no-one around the negotiating table that Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots can trust.

Bringing the discussion to a close, Mr Stephen concluded that a two-state solution is the best way to solve this issue and that if two states cannot be achieved, the next best thing for the TRNC would be to stay as they are and allow Turkey to encourage other countries to recognise it.