Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps he has taken with his Turkish counterparts in Turkey to help ensure safe passage to polling stations for people affected by the recent earthquakes during the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections in Turkey in May 2023.

We have engaged with the Turkish high election board on the question of voter access to voting booths in earthquake-affected areas. They have described to us the measures they have put in place such as new voting booths, re-registration for displaced citizens and special flexibility on voting locations. Voters will be able to vote in newly created temporary voting booths or, if they have left their original region, re-register in their new locations and have their vote count towards parliamentary candidates standing in that constituency. We have also discussed election observation in earthquake areas with a range of political parties and will continue to do so.