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

Before I begin, I wish the Ceann Comhairle and his family, the staff, the Minister and the Minister of State a merry Christmas. I will probably not get another opportunity.

I am concerned that in an attempt to use Turkey as Europe's gatekeeper, the EU is apparently ignoring and, by extension, encouraging serious human rights violations in Turkey. I am also tabling this question in the wake of the assassination in broad daylight of the prominent Kurdish human rights lawyer, Mr. Tahir Elçi. The main party representing Kurds in Turkey, the Peoples' Democratic Party, HDP, contends that he was killed by a bullet fired from a police weapon. Has the Minister concerns about this case and has he raised it with the Turkish authorities?

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