To ask Her Majesty's Government when they last discussed with the Government of Turkey matters relating to the Kurds; and whether those discussions included the dissolution of the Democratic Society Party, the arrests of elected parliamentarians and mayors, and constitutional reforms. [HL1522]

My honourable friend the Minister for Europe, Chris Bryant, raised the issue of the closure of the Democratic Society Party (DTP) and the Turkish Government's “democratic opening”, which includes reforms to address issues faced by Turkey's Kurdish minority, during talks with EU chief negotiator, Egemen Bagis, in Istanbul on 16 January 2010.

We had earlier strongly supported the statement released by the EU presidency on 11 December 2009 following the constitutional court's ruling on the closure of the DTP. This expressed concern about the closure and called on Turkey as a country negotiating EU membership to make the necessary constitutional amendments to bring its legislation on political parties in full compliance with best practices of the European Union.