BRITAIN needs to make “deeper and more durable” connections with the Turkish people beyond the controversial government of the key state, a report claims.
Westminster’s Foreign Affairs Committee has affirmed the geopolitical importance of the state, which is an ally in the fight against Daesh in Syria and plays a central role in Europe’s refugee crisis.
However, in a report published today MPs raise concerns about the weakening of democracy and human rights in the country, where President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has clamped down on the media and other groups in the wake of a failed coup last summer.
An important regional power, Turkey is said to be at a crossroads between recovery and repression, with the direction it takes set to have an impact on external politics and trade.
The report states: “The relationship that the FCO [Foreign and Commonwealth Office] establishes with Turkey must not just be with the state apparatus, or with whichever party or person currently controls it. The UK should seek a deeper and therefore more durable connection with the Turkish people, whatever background they are from, while working to uphold the values of human rights, democracy and the rule of law, which will sustain the UK’s economic, security and values interests in the relationship.”
The committee found the FCO knows “too little” about the Gulenist movement blamed by Turkish leaders for the coup, taking the Erdogan government’s account at face value and being unable to offer independent analysis.
The UK’s support for Erdogan’s administration is now said to raise serious questions about its priorities and principles.
Committee chair Crispin Blunt said: “Turkey is an important strategic partner facing a volatile period.
“It needs and deserves our support, but that support needs to include our critique where Turkish policy is not in its own, or our joint long-term interests.
“These are regional security and stability as well as strong and accountable institutions in Turkey.
“The current purges by the Turkish government amount to a root-and-branch attempt to eradicate the Gulenist movement from positions of public influence, but they have also extended beyond that to affect opposition and pro-Kurdish activists.
“Large numbers have been punished on the basis of a broad and vague definition of terrorism and a worryingly low threshold of evidence.
“Many of those dismissed and detained have been punished without trial or access to the evidence against them. There are alarmingly inadequate avenues for redress.
“These purges risk undermining Turkey’s reputation, its economy, the UK’s ability to trade there, and the capabilities of the Turkish military against shared enemies such as ISIL [Daesh].”
He continued, referring to Erdogan: “Now is a profound moment of decision for him and his divided country.
“The choices that President Erdogan now makes will determine whether Turkey will be a repressive or a recovering state. The FCO must help Turkey reinforce accountable state institutions, while also developing ties far beyond them.”
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