Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Like others, I met the Turkish delegation and had hoped to meet the Kurdish Members of Parliament; however it was not to be. It is very disconcerting that what we are seeing is the imprisonment of democratically elected Members of Parliament. We have also seen the removal of democratically elected mayors in Kurdish areas, as was pointed out to us by the group. They also showed us pictures of a number of Kurdish villages which had been destroyed by the Turkish military and it was actually like looking at scenes from Aleppo. This is an issue which is not receiving the media coverage and attention it should. The Minister mentioned something about engagement with the embassy in Dublin. I wonder if he has had a response from the Turkish ambassador. While we can say the European Union is of critical importance, it does not translate into action. I agree with the Minister about keeping lines of communication open, but question whether we are being strong enough about the attack on democracy in Turkey.

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