Tour of Green Line for speaker of UK House of Commons

Speaker of the UK House of Commons Sir Lindsey Hoyle, in Cyprus on a three-day official visit, on Thursday toured old Nicosia, including a visit to the Green Line, and met Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides.

On his Twitter feed, Sir Lindsey said: “Today I was accompanied by Madam President Annita Demetriou on a guided tour in historic old town Nicosia where I saw the green line – the United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus.”

Demetriou also took to Twitter after the tour, saying “at the ceasefire line with the speaker of the House of Commons. 47 years is too many. This blessed place does not deserve to be divided.”

And she added: “We look forward to practical support for the restoration of legality and conditions of peace and security for all the legal inhabitants of the country.”

The first UK speaker to pay an official visit to Cyprus, Sir Lindsey on Thursday also held talks with Kasoulides. The foreign ministry said these focused on the strong bilateral partnership between the two countries, cooperation within the Commonwealth and the importance of people to people ties.

There were no statements after the meeting.

During his visit to Cyprus at the invitation of House president Annita Demetriou, Sir Lindsey met President Nicos Anastasiades and addressed the House of Representatives where he praised the strong ties between Britain and Cyprus. He also met the British contingent to Unficyp and visited the British bases.

In an interview with the Cyprus News Agency, Sir Lindsey had described his visit as an opportunity to reaffirm the strong Cyprus-UK friendship and mutual commitment to democratic values, while in his speech to the House he expressed the UK’s “unwavering support” for the reunification of the island in a bizonal, bicommunal federation.