Lord Hylton – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-11-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have asked, or will ask, the government of Turkey to hold an independent inquiry into the closures and curfews imposed on the districts of Cizre and Sur by the security forces in September; whether they plan to ask the government to ensure that full compensation is paid for civilians killed or wounded, and that responsibility be established for deaths and injuries; and if not, why not.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We welcome the visit on 15-16 October of Turkey’s national human rights body to Cizre and Sirnak to conduct analysis and research on the recent events there. We continue to monitor the human rights situation in Turkey closely and raise concerns regularly with the Turkish authorities. At the same time, we recognise Turkey has a right to act proportionately in response to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) violence. PKK attacks must stop and peace talks resume soon, in the interests of Turkey and the wider region. The UK stands ready to help in any way it can.