Lord Patten – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2016-06-20.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 6 June (HL320), which elements of Turkish democracy they consider modern”; and whether they consider any aspects not “modern”.”

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Turkey is a democracy with multi-party elections whose government has been democratically elected. Progress has been made on reforms in some areas in recent years, but, as the European Commission has highlighted, there has also been significant backsliding. As a friend and ally we strongly encourage Turkey to continue work towards the full protection of all civil liberties – and will continue to do so.