Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

I thank Senator Norris for raising an issue which in turn raises a number of subsidiary matters. As the Senator is aware, Mr Remzi Kartal, a pro-Kurdish political activist and a former member of the Kurdish Parliament, was arrested in March this year by the Spanish police on foot of an international arrest warrant issued by the Turkish authorities. Mr. Eyyüp Doru was arrested at the same time. The case of both men is being dealt with by the Spanish High Court, the Audiencia Nacional, and the men are on provisional bail, as the Senator acknowledged.

I understand that on 8 May the Spanish Government approved the continuation by the Audiencia Nacional of judicial proceedings in respect of the extradition request by the Turkish authorities for the two men and that the case continues to be under consideration by the Spanish High Court. The situation may not be as final as the Senator indicated in his concerns.

Senator Norris will appreciate that it would be entirely inappropriate for the Government to seek to intervene in, or comment on judicial proceedings under way in another EU member state. We would resent any such intervention or interference with our courts. Therefore, I am in a bind and not in a position to make a statement on these individual cases.

However, I wish to update Senator Norris and the House on efforts under way to promote the Kurdish identity in Turkey and the role the EU is playing in this regard. This is relevant given that Senator Norris has mentioned a warrant that was reviewed and rejected in a German court.

It is estimated that more than half of all Kurds live in Turkey, with 15 million people of Kurdish ethnic origin residing there, mostly in the south east of the country. The Government's concerns about the human rights situation in Turkey, including the position of people of Kurdish origin, are raised regularly in our contacts with the Turkish Government, including through our embassy in Ankara.

We are also concerned about the security situation in the south east of the country, which was improving gradually until 1999 although it has worsened in more recent years. This follows the resumption of violence by the PKK, a Kurdish separatist organisation founded in 1984 with the goal of forming a separate state of Kurdistan. The PKK appears on the EU list of terrorist organisations.

One of the key elements of the EU's enlargement negotiations with Turkey is to ensure legitimate anti-terrorism and security measures do not undermine the full respect for human rights-----