Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 21 October (HL2011), what is the basis for their "genuine hope for a lasting settlement" in Cyprus; and what degree of resolution they consider the United Nations talks process to have achieved since 1975.

The two communities resumed their negotiations on 11 February 2014. The Joint Declaration contains an agreed set of parameters which give clear direction to the negotiators and the leaders. Talks have made progress since then, ordinary citizens on both sides of the Green Line are engaged, and the international community is supportive. There is also an improved appreciation, in Cyprus and in Turkey, of the political, economic, and security benefits of a settlement. The leaders of the two communities, Mr Anastasiades and Mr Eroğlu, have repeatedly confirmed their wish to reunify Cyprus.

The UN-facilitated talks have not yet achieved the ultimate goal of a comprehensive settlement. We are encouraging the communities to maintain their dialogue, so that the UN can continue supporting the Cypriots’ desire to reunify their shared island.