Human Rights In Turkey And Arrest Of Mps

EDM number 748 in 1993-94, proposed by Simon Hughes on 03/03/1994.

That this House notes recent Government statements that Turkey's human rights record does not come up to the required European standards and that Kurdish aspirations must be pursued constitutionally; draws attention to the arrest and detention of elected Members of Parliament from the Democracy Party (DEP) who have been pursuing Kurdish aspirations through constitutional means; notes that the Turkish State Prosecutor is preparing to bring action under Article 125 of the Penal Code which carries a maximum death penalty and that this Article makes criminal any act or statement which proposes to separate forms of administration for the Kurdish region, whether through devolution or independence; and calls upon Her Majesty's Government and European partners to bring all possible pressure to bear on the government of Turkey to remove the threat of prosecution and to amend the Turkish Constitution, which is in conflict with the Copenhagen Declaration of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, which all CSCE states, including Turkey, have affirmed. (Relevant registered interest declared).

This motion has been signed by a total of 65 MPs.