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Kurds In Turkey

EDM number 720 in 2009-10, proposed by Andrew Pelling on 26/01/2010.
Categorised under the topics of Asia and International politics and government.

That this House deplores the decision taken on 11 December 2009 by Turkey's Constitutional Court to close down the Democratic Society Party (DTP), the only pro-Kurdish legal political party in Turkey which, in recent elections, demonstrated that it has the support of millions of Kurdish voters and with 21 elected Members of Parliament has been playing a vital constructive role in the resolution of the protracted conflict that has claimed so many lives over the last three decades; notes that this is a deeply dismaying decision the repercussions of which will be far reaching and is a considerable setback for the achievement of a peaceful settlement of the conflict between Turkey and the Kurds and equally for Turkey's ambitions to join the European Union; further notes that by outlawing the DTP and preventing its leaders such as Ahmet Turk, who was recently a guest in the Palace of Westminster and of the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and other prominent figures such as Layla Zana from participating in politics for five years, the Turkish authorities are behaving totally irresponsibly; believes that in taking this course of action Turkey is reverting to an extremely regressive approach to the Kurdish question which appears to contradict the much-promoted reform process of Prime Minister Erdogan and will not bring about the peace that constructive forces in Turkey desire; and calls on the UK Government to exert pressure on Turkey to fully abide by the international conventions and democratic norms to which it is a signatory.

This motion has been signed by a total of 34 MPs.

MPDateConstituencyPartyType
Andrew Pelling26/01/2010Croydon CentralIndependentProposed
Bob Russell26/01/2010ColchesterLiberal DemocratSeconded
Martin Caton27/01/2010GowerLabourSeconded
Andrew Dismore27/01/2010HendonLabourSeconded
Desmond Turner27/01/2010Brighton, KemptownLabourSeconded
Bob Spink27/01/2010Castle PointIndependentSeconded
Lynne Jones27/01/2010Birmingham, Selly OakLabourSigned
David Lepper27/01/2010Brighton, PavilionLabourSigned
Robert Wareing27/01/2010Liverpool, West DerbyIndependentSigned
John Leech27/01/2010Manchester, WithingtonLiberal DemocratSigned
Colin Breed28/01/2010South East CornwallLiberal DemocratSigned
Harry Cohen29/01/2010Leyton and WansteadLabourSigned
Jeremy Corbyn29/01/2010Islington NorthLabourSigned
John McDonnell01/02/2010Hayes and HarlingtonLabourSigned
Angus MacNeil01/02/2010Na h-Eileanan an IarScottish National PartySigned
Derek Wyatt02/02/2010Sittingbourne and SheppeyLabourSigned
Michael Connarty02/02/2010Linlithgow and East FalkirkLabourSigned
Bill Etherington02/02/2010Sunderland NorthLabourSigned
Alan Simpson03/02/2010Nottingham SouthLabourSigned
Kelvin Hopkins03/02/2010Luton NorthLabourSigned
Elfyn Llwyd03/02/2010Meirionnydd Nant ConwyPlaid CymruSigned
Richard Younger-Ross03/02/2010TeignbridgeLiberal DemocratSigned
Hywel Williams05/02/2010CaernarfonPlaid CymruSigned
Mark Durkan10/02/2010FoyleSocial Democratic and Labour PartySigned
Michael Clapham10/02/2010Barnsley West and PenistoneLabourSigned
Eric Illsley10/02/2010Barnsley CentralLabourSigned
Mark Lazarowicz22/02/2010Edinburgh North and LeithLabourSigned
Frank Cook22/02/2010Stockton NorthLabourSigned
Ann Cryer24/02/2010KeighleyLabourSigned
John Austin26/02/2010Erith and ThamesmeadLabourSigned
Jennifer Willott03/03/2010Cardiff CentralLiberal DemocratSigned
Fabian Hamilton10/03/2010Leeds North EastLabourSigned
Andrew Love29/03/2010EdmontonLabourSigned
Tom Brake30/03/2010Carshalton and WallingtonLiberal DemocratSigned

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