Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that local elections in Turkey planned to take place in March 2019 are conducted in a free and fair manner.

We have consistently encouraged Turkey to ensure that the elections are held to internationally accepted standards. We have urged Turkey to invite election monitors from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the Council of Europe to observe the elections, and to act upon the recommendations made by those bodies following the Presidential elections in June 2018. If election observation missions take place we will consider offering HMG support, as we did in June. It is important for Turkish democracy that the local elections accurately reflect the wishes of the Turkish people.