Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The witnesses are very welcome. Both talked about roads. One was a bumpy one and the other a long, narrow one. We should probably try to concentrate on roadmaps.

I will start with the chargé d'affaires at the Embassy of the Republic of North Macedonia. I congratulate him on his country's successful ending of the name dispute it had with Greece. I know that negotiations were sensitive and difficult but both Governments approached them positively and I am delighted the matter was successfully resolved through dialogue and discussion. North Macedonia received official candidate status, as Mr. Kahil said, in 2005, and progress since then has been delayed because of the dispute with Greece. At the most recent European Council meeting, Emmanuel Macron used France's veto to prevent North Macedonia from being given a start date for EU accession talks. I am sure Mr. Kahil and his countrymen are extremely upset and concerned by this recent development. Many of us are critical of the EU, particularly in its current format and many of us want to see major reforms of it but my party does not oppose starting these accession talks. They should happen. Has North Macedonia's President met the French President to discuss his concerns and perhaps work out a pathway forward? Linked to that, I understand that North Macedonia's President has now called for early elections and that they will take place in April 2020, probably around the same time we will have ours but earlier than previously planned. Does Mr. Kahil believe that this is because of the EU accession talks setback? Will the matter be a significant part of the election campaign or are other domestic issues at play?

As for the situation in Turkey, in my role as a parliamentarian, I chair the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. As part of that, I have met civil society representatives, people from Turkey, politicians and others in looking at the Irish peace process and learning whatever lessons might be learned from things that worked in Ireland. People from all over the world come to Ireland to talk to us about that. As part of this work we have argued clearly that in situations in which there does not seem to be any clear way out except repression or a military route, sometimes discussions and talks can lead to a breakthrough. I know there were discussions at one time between the Turkish President and Abdullah Öcalan and that those talks broke down and so on. The ambassador started off talking about the difficulty and the long road Turkey has been on, but I think many of us looking at the situation in Turkey would argue that it is probably further away from EU accession now than it was at the start of that journey. I say that respectfully on the basis of the information we have coming out of Turkey, including on the tens of thousands of political prisoners. The ambassador mentioned the changes to the courts and so on but in recent days, I have seen reports from Amnesty International raising two cases of two journalists who had been detained indefinitely and ended up being released and then rearrested to face similar charges. We know that people from all walks of life have been arrested in Turkey - judges, military personnel, politicians - and that mayors and MPs are now being arrested. The charge of terrorism has become so broad and ambiguous that it is a catch-all term used against almost all dissenting voices. I note that the ambassador says there have been changes in respect of strengthening freedom of expression and the press, but people following what is happening in that part of the world do not see that or get a sense that it is happening. In fact, we think things are getting worse rather than better.

The invasion of Syria was mentioned. It has led to more conflict. I refer to the use of mercenaries in part of the invasion and the activities of those mercenaries. Again, everyone around the world who is looking at this is asking how a country can align itself with this element as part of an invasion.

In the past week, four democratically elected mayors in the Kurdish majority areas were removed from office and replaced by government-imposed appointees. I am pointing out the significant challenges we face. European leaders and people from various backgrounds want peace and stability in Turkey and in the region but we believe the narrow road Turkey is on will lead to further conflict. That is my big concern. If people look at what is happening in Turkey, such as the removal of democratically elected representatives, that has led to further conflict. We can learn lessons from Ireland in terms of what is happening in prisons such as making political prisoners wear uniforms, forcing them to stand for the Turkish national anthem and prisoners not being given medical supports, including those who are critically ill. I am not comfortable with the narrative. I do not want to get into a row with the ambassador. His presentation was reasonable but it does not reflect what I believe is the reality of what is happening in Turkey and the wider region. I apologise, but I think that politicians must sit down with people who have been through conflict and consider other ways forward. Perhaps that is a positive way the Irish people could support Turkey.

I do not agree with countries joining NATO. That merely adds further militarisation. We have a different view. We are not a member of NATO. We consider dialogue, discussion and inclusive talks to be the way forward. I am sorry for that rant. I know there were not many questions but they are implicit in what I have said.