UK MPs demand UK Government to act on Turkish violations

UK Members of Parliament from the three largest parties in the UK Parliament (Labour, Conservative, SNP) on Tuesday called on the UK Government to act over rampant Turkish abuses against the Kurdish population and political opposition in Turkey, while also questioning the process by which the PKK is automatically included on the UK’s terror list. Comment from the MPs who spoke at the debate is below.

Their comments came in a Westminster Hall Debate in the UK Parliament on “Kurdish Political Representation and Equality in Turkey’, based on a report by the same name by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Kurdistan in Turkey and Syria – available online here. Key findings from the report include:

– Hundreds of Kurdish activists, journalists, MPs and mayors arrested by Turkish government, only 6 out of 65 democratically-elected HDP mayors remain in office

– Increased public support for HDP led to end of peace process with PKK and violent crackdown on Kurdish community, killing of hundreds of civilians by Turkish forces, collective punishment

– Hundreds of cases of sexual violence against women in Turkish custody, over 1/3 of journalists jailed globally held by Turkey

– Following recent Belgian Supreme Court case, where they found the PKK were internal belligerents to a conflict and not a terrorist organisation, UK MPs call to reflect that in their assessment of the PKK

– No EU or international court has ever found that the PKK meets the requirements for a terrorist organisation 

The report was led by APPG co-chair Lloyd Russell-Moyle MP (Labour), who also spoke today. Other speakers challenging the UK Government to do more to protect Kurdish rights and democracy in Turkey included: APPG co-chair Crispin Blunt MP (Conservative), Alan Smith MP (SNP), Catherine West MP, Kim Johnson MP, Feryal Clark MP, Alex Sobel MP,  and John Spellar MP (all Labour). 

Protest outside the House of Parliament

Meanwhile, UK Kurds and their supporters gathered outside the Houses of Parliament to protest Turkey’s use of chemical weapons against the Kurdish freedom movement during ongoing operations in Iraq, killing dozens of fighters and also targeting civilians including a 70-year-old woman, in violation of international law. Lloyd Russell-Moyle MP and Chris Stephens MP addressed the protest.