B3-1275 and 1315/93

Resolution on the assassination of Mr Mehmet Sinçar, Kurdish MP in Turkey, and the situation of the Kurds in Turkey

The European Parliament,

A.condemning the assassination of Mr Mehmet Sinçar, a Kurdish MP belonging to the Democratic Party (DEP, formerly HEP), and another member of the party in Batman (Turkish Kurdistan) on 4 September 1993,

B.whereas Mr Sinçar was a member of a group of local MPs investigating political violence in Batman (more than 300 dead over the last few years),

C.whereas the Turkish military forces and their associates are widely suspected of involvement in this incident,

D.whereas Mr Sinçar is one of the victims in a long series of unsolved political assassinations,

E.having regard to the increasing number of people killed by armed forces in south-eastern Turkey,

F.having regard to the increasing number of cases in which meetings have been banned and restrictions imposed on the freedom of the press and freedom of opinion by the confiscation and banning of newspapers and magazines giving a true picture of the situation in south-eastern Turkey,

G.whereas respect for the most basic human rights, as defined by the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, is an essential precondition for accession to the European Community by any country,

H.having regard to its previous resolutions on the Kurds in Turkey,

1.Deplores the death of the two DEP officials;

2.Demands that light be shed on these assassinations and all others which remain unsolved and that the guilty parties be brought to justice;

3.Condemns all forms of violence and especially terrorist acts committed by the PKK;

4.Calls on the Turkish authorities to put an end to the state of emergency obtaining in the provinces with Kurdish majorities and to guarantee respect for human rights in the region;

5.Calls on the Commission, the Council and the Member States to avail themselves of every opportunity to persuade Turkey to initiate a political dialogue with the Kurds living in Turkey;

6.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, EPC and the governments of the Member States and Turkey.