§ 29. Mrs. ClwydTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment has been made by the United Kingdom, in conjunction with the EU and the UN Commission on Human Rights, of the human rights record of the Turkish Government in respect of their eligibility for development assistance. [32636]
§ Mr. HanleyThe United Kingdom and our European Union partners regularly raise human rights issues with the Turkish Government, in the context of the EU's financial assistance programme for Turkey and in the wider political and trade relationship. In bilateral contacts and at the UN Commission on Human Rights, the EU has made it clear to Turkey that this assistance is conditional on Turkey's continuing commitment to principles of democracy and basic human rights.
§ Mrs. ClwydIf that is so, will the Minister confirm that he has read the latest Amnesty International report on 15 human rights in Turkey, which makes absolutely appalling reading? It shows that Kurdish prisoners are ill treated and tortured, and that Kurds are generally treated as third-rate citizens in their own country. How will this affect relations between this country and Turkey, let alone between the European Union and Turkey? I hope that the Minister will answer my question directly.
§ Mr. HanleyIt is important to set concerns about human rights in Turkey in a broader context. We want Turkey to be firmly anchored to western institutions, because the closer Turkey is to western institutions the better we are able to express our concerns about human rights and the more influence we can bring to bear. Co-operation is a more effective approach than confrontation. We do not believe that linkage of human rights with, for example, bilateral aid or economic trade is productive. Moreover, the atrocities in Turkey are not on only one side. We deplore any breach of human rights, whether it is committed by the PKK or by the Turkish Government.
§ Mr. Simon HughesWhy will not the Government make it clear to Turkey that Greek Cypriot citizens in northern Cyprus will not have any human rights until Turkey withdraws its troops and allows them the democratic right to reclaim and to vote for their Government and to discover whether people who have disappeared are alive or dead? It is a very simple issue: why have the Government been so pathetic about it for 22 years?
§ Mr. HanleyIt is a simple issue, and one about which I feel very strongly, but it has nothing to do with this question. The hon. Gentleman's question is a responsibility not of the Overseas Development Administration but of the Foreign Office. I hope that he will table such a question to it.