Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Turkish counterpart on the detention of human rights activists in Istanbul on 5 July 2017.

​I am very concerned by the arrest on 5 July and remanding in custody of Amnesty International's Turkey Director, Idil Eser, and five other human rights defenders in Turkey. I also remain deeply concerned at the detention of Taner Kilic, Amnesty International's Turkey Chair. As I set out in my recent statement on these arrests, both the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister have raised these arrests in recent discussions with Turkish counterparts as have I with the Turkish Ambassador. We continue to urge the Turkish authorities to uphold international standards with regard to the rule of law, including the presumption of innocence, and to protect fundamental rights including freedom of expression and assembly.