Paul Monaghan – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Paul Monaghan on 2016-05-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will summon the ambassador of Turkey to explain why the Co-chair of the Democratic Regions Party, Kamuran Yuksek, has been arrested and charged with being a member of a terrorist organisation.

Mr David Lidington

The PKK continues to mount deadly terrorist attacks in Turkey, particularly in the country’s south-east. In the course of security operations in that region, a number of Democratic Regions Party officials have been detained, including Kamuran Yuksek. We regularly urge the Turkish authorities to respect human rights, including the right to freedom of expression, in the course of anti-terror operations, and to support the rule of law. We will continue to monitor these issues closely.