Imprisonment Of Turkish Democrats

EDM number 89 in 1997-98, proposed by John Austin on 09/06/1997.

That this House condemns and deplores the recent 'political' jail sentences given to 31 members of HADEP, the only legal Kurdish party in Turkey; notes that the leader of the party Murat Bozlak was sentenced to six and a half years' imprisonment after being taken into custody following an incident where a Turkish flag was lowered at a congress in June last year and the flag of the PKK was raised in its place; notes that in total 31 members of the leadership of the party were given jail sentences between two and six years and that the young man who lowered the flag was sentenced to 22 and a half years; deplores the fact that Leyla Zana, recipient of the European Parliament's Sakharov prize for freedom of thought, remains in prison with four other elected Kurdish MPs; calls on the British Government to put pressure on the Turkish regime to release them; is concerned that every democratic avenue has been closed to the Kurds in Turkey; reminds Turkey that imprisonment of democratic MPs and activists cannot stifle the legitimate demands of the Kurdish people in Turkey for democratic political rights and freedom; calls on HM Government to impose economic sanctions on Turkey until they realise that only through a political and peaceful solution to the Kurdish question will peace and economic stability come to this potential member of the European Union; and looks forward to the day when Turkish and Kurdish people in Turkey can live together in peace and freedom.

This motion has been signed by a total of 21 MPs.