Turkey And The Kurdish Regions Of Iraq And Turkey

EDM number 790 in 2002-03, proposed by John Austin on 26/02/2003.

That this House expresses extreme concern about the move of Turkish troops into northern Iraq; is aware of Turkey's desire to seize control of natural resources in the Kurdish areas of Northern Iraq; believes that a Turkish invasion or occupation of northern Iraq would threaten the successful and autonomous government of the Iraqi Kurdish region; recalls the long standing persecution by Turkey of its own Kurdish population, the suppression of Kurdish culture and language, the use of arbitrary arrest and torture against the Kurdish people and the destruction of thousands of Kurdish villages by Turkish armed forces; calls upon the UN to resist any attempt by Turkey to interfere in the internal affairs of Iraq; and calls upon Her Majesty's Government and the EU to recognise the four-year long ceasefire of the Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress and its continued offer to discuss a democratic solution to the conflict within the borders of the Turkish state, as an opportunity of a peaceful diaglogue with the Kurdish people of Turkey.

This motion has been signed by a total of 46 MPs.