RELEASE OF KAMURAN YÜKSEK - DEMOCRATIC REGIONS PARTY KURDISTAN

Early day motion 68, tabled 23 May 2016 by Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party). Signed by 25 members.

That this House notes that Kamuran Yüksek of the Democratic Regions Party was in the UK on 25 April 2016 addressing a meeting in the House of Commons at the launch of the trade union Freedom for Ocalan Campaign; further notes that he spoke eloquently on the need for a peaceful settlement to the Kurdish question and expressed similar views in the Kurdish media; notes that on the evening of 10 May 2016 Mr Yüksek was taken away by Turkish police following an arrest warrant by the Public Prosecutor in Diyarbakir, while his house and office were raided by the police; believes the motivation for Mr Yüksek's detention is purely political; notes that he is the latest in a long list of journalists, lawyers, trade unionists, politicians, academics and human rights defenders who have been incarcerated for having the temerity to criticise the authoritarian regime of President Erdogan who has unleashed a genocidal war against the Kurdish population; believes the behaviour of the Turkish authorities to be outrageous and unacceptable; and calls for the immediate release of Kamuran Yüksek.

Signatures by party: Scottish National Party 14, Labour 6, Plaid Cymru 2, DUP 1, Independent 1, Social Democratic and Labour Party 1.