§ Lord Aveburyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the visit by officials from the United Kingdom Embassy in Ankara to the region under emergency rule which was planned for September 1997 took place and, if so, what places were on the itinerary; in which of them officials were able to speak to local inhabitants without the presence of a Turkish security escort; whether they met any of the villagers internally displaced by the security forces; and whether they tried to inspect any of the destroyed villages. [HL11]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanA British Embassy official from Ankara visited the south east of Turkey between 31 August and 6 September. The itinerary comprised Van, Bitlis, Batman and Diyarbakir provinces. A further two-man embassy visit to Siirt, Mardin and Diyarbakir provinces took place from 7 to 11 December 1997.
During both visits most of the contacts which the British officials had with local NGOs and other interlocutors took place in the absence of the accompanying security escort. There was no contact with internally displaced villagers, nor did the embassy personnel inspect any destroyed villages.