Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to thank the Deputy for raising this matter.

Ireland is very concerned with the hunger strike of the Kurdish prisoners, in particular that of Ms Leyla Güven, the deputy of the People's Democratic Party, HDP, who has been on hunger strike since 7 November 2018 and is reportedly in a critical condition. It is our understanding that over 160 Kurdish prisoners in 36 prisons are now on hunger strike.

Officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have in the past conveyed our concerns to the Turkish embassy in Dublin in regard to the arrest of HDP MPs, along with other elected politicians, journalists and academics over the past two years. We are well aware of the challenge faced by Turkey in July 2016, with the attempted coup d'état, but the state of emergency is over and the rule of law and freedom of expression must prevail.

We are worried at the reports of a serious deterioration in Ms Güven's health and would strongly urge the Turkish authorities to take urgent measures to alleviate the situation, including her immediate transfer to a hospital where she can get adequate medical attention and treatment and enable contact with her lawyers and family. It is of particular concern that the delegation of MEPs and lawyers who sought to meet with Ms Güven on Saturday were denied entry.

Ms Güven's hunger strike is specifically related to the rights of lawyers and family members to visit Abdullah Öcalan, the head of the Kurdish Workers' Party, and it is our hope that the decision over the weekend by the Turkish authorities to allow Mr. Öcalan a visit from his brother for the first time in two years will be the start of a process leading to the resolution of this particular crisis.

On the wider Kurdish issue, it is clear that this can only be addressed through dialogue aiming at establishing a peaceful, comprehensive and sustainable solution. Ireland has called for the resumption of such a dialogue to allow the political process to resume and we continue to support efforts to maintain contacts between the Kurdish and Turkish sides through our funding of the Democratic Progress Institute's Turkey programme.

On the wider issue of rights within Turkey, we have been consistent in expressing our grave concern at the disproportionate scale and scope of measures taken by the Turkish authorities in the wake of the failed coup attempt in July 2016. Together with our European partners we have conveyed our concerns on the backsliding on the rule of law and fundamental rights, the deterioration of the independence and functioning of the Judiciary and the restrictions, detentions, imprisonments and other measures targeting parliamentarians, journalists, human rights defenders and others exercising their fundamental rights and freedoms.

I want to assure the Deputy that the Irish Government will continue to monitor developments in Turkey on the specific issue of the hunger strike and also on the wider issues of human rights, freedom of expression, rule of law and democracy.

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