PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
POLITICAL AND HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN TURKEY (7 November 2016)

That this House is gravely concerned by the arrest and imprisonment of Members of Parliament from the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP), including the HDP Co-Chairs Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yüksekdag, in Turkey on 4 November 2016; agrees with the statement from the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini, that these arrests compromise parliamentary democracy in Turkey; notes that hundreds of other Kurdish members and officials from HDP and the pro-Kurdish Democratic Regions Party (DBP) have also been detained and imprisoned in recent months; further notes that since the attempted coup in Turkey in July 2016, President Erdogan and the Turkish government have imposed greater restrictions on the freedom of expression and the freedom of the press, as well as threatened the independence of the judiciary; believes that the current situation in Turkey is undermining democracy and the chances of resolving the Kurdish issue; urges the Turkish authorities to respect the rule of law and the fundamental rights of all of its citizens, including Kurds, Alevis and other minority groups; and calls on the Government and the Council of Europe to make representations to the Turkish government expressing serious concern at the imprisonment of the HDP MPs, the suspension of provisions within the European Convention on Human Rights and President Erdogan's support for the reintroduction of the death penalty.

Sponsored by:
Joan Ryan (The Independent Group for Change)