Lord Patten – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2015-10-22.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of Turkey’s application to accede to the European Union, what assessment they have made of (1) freedom of the press and media, and (2) freedom of the judiciary, in that country.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

As part of their EU accession process, we encourage Turkey to continue to work towards the full protection of fundamental rights, including the principles of freedom of expression, the separation of powers and an impartial judiciary. We welcome progress made thus far, and as the EU Commission has highlighted, further sustained work is needed to meet EU standards.