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Ministry of Defence: Cyprus

Asked by Sir Iain Duncan SmithConservativeMinistry of DefenceTabled Answered 3 December 2025UIN 94143

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 2 April 2025 to Question UIN 43405, whether he or Ministers in his Department have visited the Old British Cemetery in Girne, Northern Cyprus; and whether he plans to do so.

Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones

Whilst the Ministry of Defence continues to recognise and value the sacrifice of the 371 UK Service personnel who gave their lives during the ‘Cyprus Emergency’, Parliamentary and Ministerial commitments mean there are no plans to visit the memorial at The Old British Cemetery at Girne (Kyrenia).

Whilst the cemetery is located in the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is not recognised by this Government, the British High Commission in Nicosia regularly honours those Service personnel who died, including through the annual laying of a wreath at the official Remembrance Day Service at the Nicosia War Cemetery where British soldiers are buried.

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