§ Sir David SteelTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his Turkish counterpart on the treatment of Kurds in north Kurdistan, and the denial of parliamentary rights to Kurdish Members of Parliament; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Garet-JonesThe Turkish Government are well aware of our concern about the human rights situation in Turkey. We welcome Prime Minister Demirel's commit-ment to introducing further human rights reforms.
456WIt is not the case that the parliamentary rights of any Members of the Turkish Grand National Assembly of Kurdish origin have been withdrawn. But the public prosecutor has requested the removal of parliamentary immunity from some members of the People's Labour Party—HEP—so that they can be tried for charges arising out of alleged co-operation with terrorist organisations. The request for removal of immunity is currently under review by the parliamentary justice committee.
The HEP members concerned are all of ethnic Kurdish origin. There is no question of lifting the immunity of other Kurdish members of the Grand National Assembly. We are following this issue closely.