Turkey (Hansard, 5 November 1993)

§ Mr. Austin-Walker
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what measures he will take to encourage Turkey's adherence to the Copenhagen declaration of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe on minority rights.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
On behalf of the European Community and its member states, the United Kingdom raised the issue of Turkey's compliance with its CSCE commitments at the human dimension implementation meeting in Warsaw from 27 September to 15 October. We will be prepared to take similar action in the future.

§ Mr. Austin-Walker
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will instruct the British ambassador in Ankara to send an official to the Kurdish region to obtain first hand information on the alleged bombardment and depopulation of villages by Turkish armed forces.

§ Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
Officials from the British embassy make regular visits to the region as conditions permit. The ambassador was there himself in April. The embassy receives information from a range of contacts in human rights organisations in the region.

§ Mr. Soley
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make representations to Turkey concerning the recent massacre in the Kurdish town of Lice.
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§ Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
The details of the incident in Lice at the end of October are still unclear. The Turkish authorities are aware of the importance we attach to the rule of law and respect for human rights.
We are increasingly concerned by escalating violence in south-east Turkey and by allegations of human rights abuses there by both sides in the conflict.

§ Mr. Austin-Walker
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will request the United Nations Secretary' General to appoint a special rapporteur to investigate the alleged abuse of human rights, violent depopulation of villages and killings of civilians by Turkish armed forces.

§ Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
If proposals were made by the appropriate United Nations human rights bodies, we would study them carefully on their merit.