Speeches

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

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hylton on 2015-12-01.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are making representations to the government of Turkey about the murder of Tahir Elci and the attempted murder of Selahattin Demirtaş; and whether they will place any response in the Libraries of both Houses.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Mr Elçi’s murder is a tragic case. While the facts are not yet known, this illustrates the need for the peace process to be resumed and an end to violence from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Our Ambassador in Ankara has publicly expressed his shock and sadness at Mr Elçi’s murder, and passed condolences to the families of the policemen also killed in these clashes. We understand that the Turkish authorities have completed an initial investigation into reports of an attack on Mr Demirtaş and that a fuller investigation is ongoing.