Policy Briefings

TURKEY AND THE KURDISH QUESTION: BRIEFING PAPER (pdf)
Prepared by Peace in Kurdistan Campaign, November 2015

Parliamentary Lobbying

EARLY DAY MOTIONS (EDMs) are motions submitted by MP’s for debate in the UK parliament, and are a useful means of building support from MP’s for campaigns. Peace in Kurdistan campaign regularly encourages MPs to table and sign EDM’s reating urgent and pressing developments in the Kurdish conflict. You can see a list of previous EDM’s relating to Kurdish issues here.

In 2011, the Foreign Affairs Select Committee held an inquiry into UK-Turkey relations and Turkey’s regional role. PiK submitted evidence to the inquiry in August 2011, regarding the key question: Should the UK Government be concerned about trends in the quality of democracy, the rule of law and human rights in Turkey, including the rights of ethnic and religious minorities (including the Kurds) and freedom of expression? 

You can download the full submission here: Peace in Kurdistan Campaign submission to the Turkey Inquiry August 2011

FAC has recently published its final report, in which a significant amount of space is dedicated to questions around furthering the UK’s economic ties with Turkey. Despite some attention being paid to human rights violations, FAC’s understanding of the Kurdish conflict appears to be limited. You can read our response to their report where we have highlighted its shortcomings.