On Tuesday evening, Theresa Villiers, MP for Chipping Barnet, joined fellow parliamentarians at an annual lobby event calling for the reunification of Cyprus to be boosted up Britain's foreign policy agenda.
The event was attended by many representatives of the UK Cypriot Community and opened by Peter Droussiotis, President of the National Federation of Cypriots, who stressed that the reunification of Cyprus would remain the British Cypriot Community’s top priority. He then invited the audience to question Members on what progress had been made, including Turkey’s possible accession to the European Union and Cypriot missing persons.
Speaking at the meeting, Theresa said, “This meeting is an important opportunity to show cross-party support for justice for Cyprus. It’s a matter of regret that for nearly 40 years, lobbies like this one have had to take place to protest against the continuing division and occupation of Cyprus.”
“Turkey’s successful future in Europe remains dependent upon meeting criteria set by the European Union, including finding a solution to the Cyprus issue. Cypriot access to Turkish airspace and ports is also a central issue to which Turkey needs to comply with in order for its EU accession bid to be taken seriously.”
"It is also vital that the international community continues to put pressure on Turkey to fulfil its obligations to ensure that the relatives of the Missing finally know the truth about what happened to their loved ones.”
“I will continue to work hard on behalf my Chipping Barnet constituents to lobby the British Government to keep up the pressure on Turkey and give answers to the relatives of the missing.”