WRITTEN QUESTION No. 650/98 by Nikitas KAKLAMANIS to the Commission. Imprisonment of a Kurdish leader in Turkey
C 310/112 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 9. 10. 98 (98/C 310/148) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0650/98 by Nikitas Kaklamanis (UPE) to the Commission (10 March 1998) Subject: Imprisonment of a Kurdish leader in Turkey On 13 January, Hamdi Turanli, chairman of the Democratic party of southern Kurdistan (PDK) was arrested by the Turkish authorities and imprisoned in Ankara. Mr Turanli is facing a sentence of 22 years in prison and he is suffering from cancer which requires constant medical surveillance. On 16 January, Amnesty International called for the release of Mr Turanli, while the German Foreign Minister, Mr Kinkel, intervened (through the German Embassy in Ankara) to secure the release of the Kurdish leader, who also holds German in addition to Turkish citizenship. What is the Commissionís formal position in regard to this matter? How does it propose to intercede with the Turkish authorities to secure the release of this Kurdish freedom-fighter, who is suffering from cancer, and put an end to the inhuman terrorization of the Kurds living on Turkish territory? Answer given by Mr Van den Broek on behalf of the Commission (20 April 1998) The Commission is following the case of Mr Turanli. He was released provisionally on 26 February 1998. In all its dealings with the Turkish authorities the Commission emphasises the need to improve the human rights situation and continue the democratisation process in Turkey. Despite Ankaraís decision to suspend all political dialogue with the Community, the Commission intends to continue to stress this point. As regards the situation in south-eastern Turkey in particular, the Commission has repeatedly pointed out the need to find a non-military solution to the problem and to ensure that measures to combat terrorism remain compatible with the rule of law and respect for human rights. The Commission also intends to contribute to the socio-economic development of the region by financing projects under the MEDA programme. (98/C 310/149) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0652/98 by Gerardo Ferna·ndez-Albor (PPE) to the Commission (10 March 1998) Subject: Involvement of Galician businesses in the Community Al-Invest Programme In its first two years of operation the Al-Invest Programme, whose purpose is to facilitate commercial, know-how, technology transfer and financial exchanges, has successfully organized forty business meetings and programmed a further sixty, with a turnover of ECU 25 million. Galiciaís links with Latin America and the statistically demonstrable economic interdependence of the two regions mean that the Al-Invest Programme is particularly important to Galicia. Can the Commission say what the Al-Invest Programmeís impact on relations between Galicia and Latin America has been, how many business meetings have taken place in Galicia and what the extent of Galician representation within the programme as a whole has been?