§ Baroness Coxasked Her Majesty's Government:
What representations they intend to make to Turkey at the forthcoming Organisation for Security 180WA and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Summit in Istanbul concerning Turkey's continuing violations of human rights, particularly with regard to Kurdish people and church communities of Turkish Christians, Assyrian and Armenian Christians; and [HL299]
What representations they intend to make to Turkey at the forthcoming Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Summit in Istanbul concerning the closure of the Halki Theological Seminary on 9 November by the Turkish Government, in violation of Article VI of the 1981 United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination based on Religion or Belief; and [HL300]
What representations they intend to make to Turkey at the forthcoming Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Summit in Istanbul concerning the allegations of torture and forced confession in the case of Soner Onder arrested in 1991 in connection with a bombing attack and subsequent sentence of 16 years imprisonment. [HL301]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanThe Government are aware of the issues raised by the noble Baroness, and regularly raise our concerns over Turkey's human rights record at both Ministerial and official level.
There are also a number of fora in which Turkey's human rights record could be raised, including the Human Dimension Review Conference that the OSCE will hold in either Vienna or Istanbul prior to the summit.