We understand that the Turkish government has proposed expropriation in order to facilitate reconstruction of certain areas damaged during security operations against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party. We have not made representations or assessed the question of collective punishment.

We are closely monitoring Turkish government security operations in south-east Turkey and actions it has taken in northern Iraq and northern Syria. Our condolences are with civilians caught up in the violence, as well as Turkish soldiers and police who continue to be targeted in terrorist attacks by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), and our Ambassador in Ankara have emphasised to the Turkish government the need to respect human rights, avoid civilian casualties and return to the peace process. We understand that the Government of Turkey has committed to compensating those whose properties were damaged in recent violence.

We have no plans to discuss this particular case with the Government of Turkey. Abdullah Öcalan is the leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, a terrorist organisation proscribed in the UK that has killed over 350 people in violent attacks since July 2015. We have supported the peace process initiated by the Turkish government and hope the process can be restarted soon.

We regularly discuss the situation in Cizre and elsewhere in south east Turkey with the Government of Turkey, who have underlined to us their desire to carry out security operations in a careful manner, fully respecting the rule of law. The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), and our Ambassador to Turkey have emphasised to the Turkish government the need to respect human rights and avoid civilian casualties. We call for a Kurdistan Workers' Party ceasefire and a return to the peace process. Turkey’s Development Minister has said the government is providing a range of support to those affected and is working on monetary and other forms of compensation for those whose homes and properties have been damaged.

The ongoing violence in the predominantly Kurdish areas of south east Turkey is extremely concerning. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) continues to kill members of the Turkish police service and security forces in violent terrorist attacks. The Turkish government has responded by striking PKK targets in south-east Turkey, including with the use of air power. We believe Turkey has a legitimate right to defend itself against the PKK, whose attacks we condemn as we condemn all terrorism. We continue to monitor the situation closely. The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), and our Ambassador in Ankara have emphasised to the Turkish government the need to respect human rights, avoid civilian casualties and return to the peace process.

There are no plans to extend the Syrian Cessation of Hostilities to south-east Turkey. Violence by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) must end and we support a return to peace talks between Turkey and the PKK, in the interests of Turkey and the wider region.

The situation in certain areas in south east Turkey is extremely concerning. The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) continues to mount deadly attacks against the security forces. Our thoughts are with the victims and the civilians that have been caught up in the violence. The Turkish government has recently announced plans for reconstruction and assistance for those whose property has been damaged. We continue to call for the PKK to end its terrorist attacks and for the peace process to be resumed.

As I said in my answer to Lord Patten’s question on 1 February (HL5288), the ongoing violence in south east Turkey is extremely concerning. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) continues to kill members of the Turkish police service and security forces in violent terrorist attacks. We believe Turkey has a legitimate right to defend itself against the PKK, whose attacks we condemn as we condemn all terrorism. Our thoughts are with the victims of these attacks, and the civilians, including children, who have been caught up in the violence.

We have been clear, in public and private, that PKK violence must end and we support a return to the peace process, in the interests of Turkey and the region. We stand ready to help in any way we can. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), and our Ambassador to Turkey have emphasised the need to respect human rights and the importance of avoiding civilian casualties to the Government of Turkey.

Security operations, including military curfews, are continuing in Cizre and other towns in south-east Turkey against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and its youth wing, the YPS (Civil Protection Units, formerly the YDG-H). One soldier and two police officers were killed on 31 January. It is also reported that around 30 people, some of them seriously injured, are sheltering in a basement in Cizre and in need of medical assistance. The Turkish authorities have said they have tried to provide access to medical care but that PKK attacks prevented their efforts. Our condolences are with the families of the soldiers and police who have been killed, and with civilians caught up in the violence. We are closely monitoring human rights issues in south-east Turkey. We have not gathered any evidence of war crimes.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is a proscribed terrorist organisation in Turkey, the UK and the EU. It has killed over 150 members of Turkey’s security forces since July 2015. We have been clear in our public and private communications with the Government of Turkey that PKK violence must end and the peace process should resume. We stand ready to help in any way we can.

We are closely monitoring all of these and related events in Turkey and the region. The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) continues to kill members of the Turkish police service and security forces. We support Turkey’s right to defend itself against all forms of terrorism. We have been clear that the PKK must cease its violence and the peace process needs to be resumed. The UK stands ready to help in any way it can in this regard. I last raised this with my Turkish counterpart when we met in August.

The Government continues to monitor closely Turkey’s democratic reforms, including as part of the EU accession process, focusing particularly on freedom of expression, respect for the rule of law and minority rights.

We welcome Turkey’s invaluable contribution to the international campaign against Daesh, particularly its agreement for the use of its airspace and airbases, as a member of the Global Coalition committed to defeating it. Turkey has been carrying out military strikes against Daesh since July 2015, and state that they have detained over 2,500 Daesh suspects since 2013, of whom one third are foreigners. Turkey recognises the role that Syrian Kurds have to play in the fight against Daesh, and accepts that Syrian Kurds receive Coalition support.

We are closely monitoring all of these and related events in Turkey and the region. The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) continues to kill members of the Turkish police service and security forces. We support Turkey’s right to defend itself against all forms of terrorism. We have been clear that the PKK must cease its violence and the peace process needs to be resumed. The UK stands ready to help in any way it can in this regard. I last raised this with my Turkish counterpart when we met in August.

The Government continues to monitor closely Turkey’s democratic reforms, including as part of the EU accession process, focusing particularly on freedom of expression, respect for the rule of law and minority rights.

We welcome Turkey’s invaluable contribution to the international campaign against Daesh, particularly its agreement for the use of its airspace and airbases, as a member of the Global Coalition committed to defeating it. Turkey has been carrying out military strikes against Daesh since July 2015, and state that they have detained over 2,500 Daesh suspects since 2013, of whom one third are foreigners. Turkey recognises the role that Syrian Kurds have to play in the fight against Daesh, and accepts that Syrian Kurds receive Coalition support.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) continues to kill Turkish police and security forces. The PKK must cease its violence and the peace process needs to be resumed. We support Turkey’s right to defend itself against all forms of terrorism.

We welcome Turkey’s invaluable contribution to the international campaign against Daesh, particularly its agreement for the use of its airspace and airbases, as a member of the Global Coalition committed to defeating it. Turkey has been carrying out strikes against Daesh since July 2015, and have detained over 2,500 Daesh suspects since 2013, of whom one third are foreigners. Turkey recognises the role that Syrian Kurds have to play in the fight against Daesh, and accepts that Syrian Kurds receive Coalition support.

We are aware of the case of Selamet Yesilmen, who was killed in clashes between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Turkish authorities in Nusaybin, and closely monitor the human rights situation across Turkey, including the southeast. As we have made clear, the PKK must cease its violence and the peace process needs to be resumed, in the interests of Turkey and the wider region.

My Lords, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, the PKK, is a proscribed organisation. The Terrorism

Act 2000 allows the Home Secretary to consider deproscription by written application. There are no provisions in legislation to classify a group as a resistance movement.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will reclassify the Kurdistan Workers’ Party as a national resistance movement.

Political aspirations are of course noble and those are the types of issues which should be addressed in the peace talks that we want the PKK to return to. But the fact is that the PKK has been responsible for 140 deaths of military police and civilians in Turkey just in recent months, and that is the reason it is proscribed as a terrorist organisation and why it will remain so.

My Lords, when I tabled this Question I did not expect the Answer to be, “Yes, of course”. However, have the Government fully considered that the PKK long ago stopped killing civilians; that it has offered many ceasefires, particularly since 1999; that it is asking not for independence but for devolution; and that it has the support of non-violent civil society in the south-east and of many other minorities in Turkey? They all want a new constitution. Will the Government consider these points?

A number of those points were raised at the EU/Turkey summit on Sunday which the Prime Minister attended. Of course there is an absolute need for those discussions to continue, but they must go through a diplomatic and political process; this is not to be decided by military violence.

My Lords, we understand the urgency of the Kurdish issue in Turkish politics, and of course now in both Syrian and Iraqi politics, but can the Government at the very least be active in saying to the AKP Government in Turkey that we welcome the peace negotiations between the PKK and the Government, but we think that the provision of better civil rights for the substantial Kurdish minority in Turkey is an important issue for the future, and that the treatment of the HDP over the past few months within Turkish domestic politics has been deeply unfortunate?