MPs yesterday held a two-hour debate, proposed by (Enfield North)
(Lab), on early elections, human rights and the political
situation in Turkey
Extracts
3.31 pm (East Renfrewshire)
(Con)...Worryingly, ErdoÄŸan’s response to the economic crisis that
has completely derailed any progress towards meeting those 2023
vision goals has been to spread conspiracy theories and
anti-Semitic rhetoric. ErdoÄŸan is no stranger to anti-Semitic
conspiracy theories. He has blamed Israel for the overthrow of
President Morsi in Egypt, called a protestor “spawn of Israel” and
complained that the Turks are
“accused of being Jews, Armenians, or Greeks”.
More recently, ErdoÄŸan has sought to blame virtually all
setbacks or criticisms on what he calls the “mastermind”—those
who are apparently behind the 2016 coup, the Gülen movement,
ISIS, the PKK and Turkey’s ongoing financial crisis, all as part
of an attempt to overthrow him and destroy Turkey. While he is
generally vague about who the mastermind is, or are, there are
clearly strong anti-Semitic currents running through this
ultra-nationalist conspiracy theory. For example, during the
election campaign, ErdoÄŸan has blamed the devaluation of the
lira on “some Jewish families”.
This is a deeply regrettable turn of events in what had been, in
the past, one of the most open and tolerant countries in the
region. The undoing of this work in recent years has been tragic
and cannot bode well for the future of Turkey or its neighbours.
As the right hon. Lady suggests, this poses a threat. ErdoÄŸan
has allied with an ultra-nationalist party to force through his
constitutional reforms and now these snap elections, arrested
most of the leaders of the main pro-Kurdish party and overseen
the collapse of the solution process with the PKK.
In 2013, it emerged that ErdoÄŸan’s Government were secretly
coding people of Greek, Armenian, and Jewish ancestry in
population registers. Just months ago, ErdoÄŸan fuelled
nationalist paranoia even further by making this genealogy
database publicly available, which, perhaps unsurprisingly, has
led to some quite violent attacks online, in the media and on
people in the street. The service allows Turks to find out
whether their ancestors were, for example, Greeks or Armenians
who had passed themselves off as Muslim Turks 100 years ago to
save their lives and homes.
Nationalism is resurgent; conspiracy theories are widespread; and
the Government are fuelling anti-Semitic tropes. I hope, but do
not expect, that despite the pattern of recent years, Turkey can
change course once again. I hope, but do not expect—despite the
best efforts of my right hon. Friend the Member for Chesham and
Amersham (Dame Cheryl Gillan)—that the elections will be free and
fair. However, I suspect that if anyone can manage that, she
probably can. I certainly would not want to mess with her.
4.07 pm (Strangford) (DUP)...The second
issue I would like to discuss is the FORB situation in Turkey
specifically. There is simply not enough time to go through all
the freedom of belief issues in Turkey that cause me and the
all-party group significant concern. Funding for non-Muslim
houses of worship remains very limited in comparison with funding
for Sunni mosques. Anti-Semitism continues to be a problem for
Turkey’s Jewish community, and there are significant reports of
Protestant churches being vandalised and pastors being targeted
with hate speech via text message, Facebook and email. We have
brought those issues to the House in the past.
The European Court of Human Rights has made many judgments on
these and other long-standing issues, which have not been
addressed by the Turkish Government.
4.36 pm (Leeds North East)
(Lab)...The hon. Gentleman mentioned something else that is very
important and close to my heart and the hearts of all Members
present in the Chamber today: the increasingly anti-Semitic
rhetoric that we hear from President ErdoÄŸan and his Government.
It is all the more tragic given the sanctuary that Turkey and the
Ottoman empire offered to the Jews escaping persecution in other
parts of Europe, down the centuries, including to my own
ancestors who left Spain in 1492. That old trope of blaming Jews
worldwide for the devaluation of the lira, for currency
fluctuations and for financial issues is something of which we
have heard far too much. It is a tragedy that that country that
we have come to admire over the years is going down that path.
To read the full debate, CLICK
HERE
