§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether language and cultural rights and reasonable self-determination for the Kurds of Turkey are on the agenda for the Instanbul summit meeting of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe; and, if not, why not. [HL4477]
§ Baroness Scotland of AsthalThe formal agenda for the OSCE Istanbul Summit does not offer an opportunity for thematic discussions such as the issue of self-determination for the Kurds of Turkey. Each OSCE participating state is free to raise any issue it sees fit during its plenary address. Under the general title of minority rights, the rights of Turkish Kurds were raised at the OSCE Review Conference in Vienna in September by both NGOs and individual states. We anticipate that the issue of minority rights in general is likely to be covered in the Summit Declaration.