HL Deb 25 July 1991 vol 531 c69WA
Lord Hylton

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What information they have about unrest, civilian protest and military repression in 11 Kurdish-speaking provinces of South-East Turkey.

Lord Cavendish of Furness

A state of emergency has been in operation in South-East Turkey since April Last year following an upsurge in guerrilla activity by Kurdish separatist forces. We continue to hope that circumstances will before long make it possible to lift the state of emergency.

Lord Hylton

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will send diplomatic observers to visit those parts of South-East Turkey now under martial law; and whether they will seek the widest embargo on arms supplies to Turkey until such time as the Turkish derogation of August 1990 from the European Convention on Human Rights is rescinded.

Lord Cavendish of Furness

Members of the British Embassy in Ankara have visited South-East Turkey frequently during the course of the relief operation for Kurdish refugees in northern Iraq. Defence sales to Turkey are subject to the general control procedures governing arms exports.