Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We were to meet Deputy Faysal Sariyildiz, who could not travel from Brussels, but I am grateful that the Department has met the Kurdish solidarity group. I hope the conflict resolution unit, which the Minister told me about previously, is interested in this, and that those contacts will continue.

I understand the European Parliament is voting today on the suspension of all talks with Turkey on chapters of accession. Does the Minister agree with that? Will he say that we should suspend talks with the Turkish Government? As I outlined briefly, the savage oppression of the people of the Kurdish area of Turkey continues. The Minister mentioned the return of the death penalty and the absolute refusal of the AKP party to allow the expression of the rights of the HDP, which represents the Kurdish people.

What steps can the Minister take to ensure the peace process which was well under way in 2013 and which Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of the Kurdish people, was anxious to progress will be restored?

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