"British MPs urge Turkish troop withdrawal from Cyprus ?
POL-CYPRUS-MPS British MPs urge Turkish troop withdrawal from Cyprus LONDON, Feb 22 (KUNA) -- Turkey should withdraw troops from northern Cyprus in order to boost efforts to heal the rift with the south and ease Ankara's path into the European Union, British MPs said in a report Tuesday.
The House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee warned that Turkish accession to the EU "in practice ... will be impossible for as long as there is no settlement of the Cyprus problem."
But while urging the Turks to reduce their military presence on the divided island, the Committee also warned the Greek-leaning Republic of Cyprus in the south, which has already joined the EU, against regarding its membership as a means of gaining leverage over Turkey or the Turkish Cypriots.
The Committee, chaired by senior Labour MP Donald Anderson, called on the British Government to promote trade and contacts between Britain and northern Cyprus, even in the absence of a settlement.
At the same time it urged the Government to use its presidency of the EU in the second half of this year to assist the search for an overall settlement in the former British colony."
More:British MPs urge Turkish troop withdrawal from Cyprus ?
