SYRIAC AND ASSYRIAN CULTURAL RIGHTS

Early day motion 621, tabled 28 January 2009 by Andrew Dismore (Labour). Signed by 21 members.

That this House is concerned about the cultural and religious rights of the Syriac and Assyrian community in Turkey, whose numbers in the Tur Abdin heartland have decreased from over 100,000 to under 3,000 in recent years; believes that the prohibition of the Syriac language violates the freedom of religion; calls on the government of Turkey to respect the international treaties it signed regarding religious and cultural freedom and officially to recognise the Syriac, as well as Armenian and Kurdish names, of villages in its eastern regions.

Signatures by party: Labour 16, Liberal Democrat 3, Conservative 1, Independent 1.