§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have studied the reports and views of the Council and Committees of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions, the European Commission on Human Rights, the European Parliament, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, concerning the assassination of Mr. M. Sincar of the Turkish Grand National Assembly on 4 September 1993, the subsequent imprisonment of four elected members of that Assembly, the flight into exile of six other members and the debarring for life from legal practice of Mr. M. Alinak and Mr. S. Yurtdas, for which they were qualified; what conclusions they draw from the above; and what actions they propose to take both through international organisations and directly with the Government of Turkey.
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanWe are aware of the reports and views cited in the question. We view with concern the proscription of political parties for the peaceful advocacy of their views. We further regard the banning of the Democracy Party (DEP) in 1994 as inconsistent with the aims of democratic pluralism to which participating states of the OSCE aspire.
We continue to monitor the cases of the four DEP MPs closely, and regularly raise their convictions with the Turkish authorities.