Visit Of Cypriot Women

EDM number 658 in 1996-97, proposed by Alan Meale on 13/03/1997.

That this House welcomes the recent visit on International Women's Day of 80 Cypriot women, mostly relatives of the 1,619 missing persons who disappeared during the 1974 illegal invasion of Cyprus by Turkish troops; is concerned that the plight of those missing people who include 511 civilians, of which 116 are women, 25 are children and many are elderly persons, is continuing 23 years after the invasion, especially following evidence which shows that many of the missing persons are alive long after the cessation of hostilities; notes the report of the European Commission on 4th October 1994 which found that 'Greek Cypriots who are still missing were unlawfully deprived of their liberty in Turkish custody' and that the Turkish government had violated Article 5 of the Convention on Human Rights; calls upon Her Majesty's Government to demand of Turkey the immediate provision of all information about the fate of the missing people; deplores the scandalous statement by Denktash that the missing persons should simply be considered dead without any details being given; and urges the world community to press Turkey to co-operate with the United Nations and international organisations to end the present impasse in the negotiations for a peaceful, just and lasting solution for all Cypriots.

This motion has been signed by a total of 36 MPs.