Kurdish Political Representation and Equality in Turkey

Feryal Clark Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd November 2021 Westminster Hall

[Feryal Clark (Enfield North) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Brighton, Kemptown (Lloyd Russell-Moyle) for securing this important debate. I will focus my comments on the role of the Turkish Government towards the Kurdish community.

Sadly, the issue of representation and equality for Kurds in Turkey is not new. The systemic abuse of the Kurdish community has continued unchecked for far too long. My parents were forced to flee Turkey in the 1980s, due to the systemic abuse faced by the Kurdish community. When I was growing up it was illegal to learn or speak Kurdish. That was changed in early 2000, as Turkey was going through accession discussions with the European Union, but the Government still use various spurious means to prevent the Kurdish community from being able to speak or learn Kurdish.

It is a shameful mark of the lack of progress that Kurds have continued to feel the need to leave their homes, and that the attitude of President Erdoğan’s regime shows no sign of changing. The discriminatory attitude of the Turkish Government is entrenched by President Erdoğan’s persistent interference in the courts, creating a judicial system that has become institutionally prejudiced against Kurds and other minorities in Turkey.

That executive interference in the judiciary has been reflected in the systemic practice of detaining, prosecuting and convicting on bogus charges individuals that the Erdoğan Government regard as critics or political opponents. Terrorism charges continue to be widely misused to restrict the rights to free expression and association. Defence lawyers in such cases have faced arrest and prosecution on the same charges as their clients. Among those targeted, as has been said, are journalists, Opposition politicians and activists, in particular members of the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic party, the HDP.

Selahattin Demirtaş, the former co-chair of the HDP, has been held in prison in Turkey since 2016 and the European Court of Human Rights has called for his immediate release, but no action has been taken by the Turkish Government. Further, I remain deeply concerned about the rise in allegations of torture, as well as cruel and inhumane treatment, especially of female detainees in police and military custody and prison over the past four years. Prosecutors do not conduct meaningful investigations into such allegations and there is a pervasive culture of impunity among members of the security forces and the political officials implicated.

Erdoğan’s regime refuses to distinguish between the PKK and the democratically elected HDP, which won 11.7% of the national vote in the 2018 parliamentary elections and 65 local municipalities in the 2019 local elections. Since August 2019 the Interior Ministry has removed 48 elected HDP mayors, on the basis that they face criminal investigation and prosecutions for links to the PKK. Repeating the approach taken in 2016-17, the Government have replaced mayors in the south-east with Ankara-appointed provincial governors and deputy governors as trustees.

In sharp contrast, the HDP’s pluralist and inclusive platform has resulted in its popularity among diverse groups in Turkey. The inclusion of minority groups, including Kurds, as well as Alevis, Armenians, the LGBT community, women’s rights organisations, secularists and other ethnic minorities such as Yazidis and Assyrians, has been key to expanding the HDP’s appeal. The success of the parties pursuing that agenda shows that there is real appetite on the ground in Turkey for a movement away from the regressive attitude pursued by Erdoğan’s regime.

While movement towards those positions by parties such as the HDP is crucial, it is key that, in addition to efforts made from within Turkey, the international community also uses its influence to support people on the ground. I welcome the work of the European Court of Human Rights and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in recent years to highlight the persistent erosion of Kurdish rights in Turkey, and call on the UK Government, alongside international partners, to continue to put pressure on their Turkish counterparts. I am sure the Minister will set out the UK Government’s fantastic relationship with Turkey and the significant role that Turkey plays within NATO—it has been repeated before.

However, I have asked before and I ask again: as allies, surely we should be calling on Turkey to stop the abuse and persecution of Kurds and Kurdish politicians. If we cannot ask our friends to stop this, how do we deal with the less friendly nations? How much longer will the UK Government stand by and let this disregard for human rights continue? The rights of Kurds and other minorities in Turkey have been at best ignored and at worst abused, for far too long. It is time for change. I urge the Minister to take note of the 32 recommendations set out in the APPG’s report and call on Turkey to stop the persecution of Kurds and come to the table to negotiate for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish question.