Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with (a) Cabinet colleagues and (b) the Turkish Government on (i) human rights violations by the Turkish authorities against Kurdish communities in Turkey, (ii) efforts to outlaw Kurdish political parties and (iii) imprisonment of Kurdish political prisoners; and what steps the UK Government is taking to maintain peace, stability and democracy in that region.

We hold regular discussions, both internally and with the Turkish government on a range of issues, including human rights in Turkey and the government's legal attempts to close down the People's Democratic Party (HDP), as well as the jailing of Kurdish politicians. We are following the HDP closure case closely. We have made it clear to Turkey that we expect the government to undertake any legal processes or actions against opposition parties fairly, transparently and with full respect for the rule of law. We will continue to engage closely with Turkey, including at Ministerial level, to insist that it fulfils its international legal obligations to secure the human rights of all people, regardless of their legitimate political affiliations, particularly in the areas of freedom of expression and assembly, press freedom and the treatment of detainees. We also encourage a return to talks around a peace process. We will hold Turkey to account using established international mechanisms, and look for opportunities to raise these issues with our international partners.