Turkey

Kevin Brennan Excerpts

Tuesday 19th July 2016 Commons Chamber

[Sir Alan Duncan]

The UK’s policy is to engage across all parties within Turkey. The hon. Gentleman should be aware of the EU Foreign Affairs Council statement yesterday, which condemned the coup and welcomed “the common position” of all

“the political parties in support of Turkey’s democracy.”

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

One aforementioned irony of this situation is that the Foreign Secretary published a scurrilous poem about President Erdogan. That is one of the glories of our democracy, but is the serious point not that, currently, if someone published a similar poem in Turkey they might be subject to arrest? What are the Government going to do to ensure that free speech is preserved, even in the current situation?

[Sir Alan Duncan]

Exactly as I have been explaining for nearly an hour now, we have to apply the maximum and optimum diplomatic pressure we can, both bilaterally and multilaterally, and we will continue to do that. This is often about relationships and persuasion; I once teased the Foreign Secretary, but I am happy to say that we are getting on extremely well.