Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations, if any, they are making to the government of Turkey following the arrest of the Chairman and nine journalists of the Cumhuriyet newspaper, and the closing of some 170 media outlets.

We continue to follow developments in Turkey closely and underline the importance of the rule of law and the protection of freedom of expression. The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson) raised these issues during his visit to Turkey on 25-27 September, as has the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Rutland and Melton (Sir Alan Duncan) with Turkey’s Minister for Europe, Omer Celik, most recently in a telephone call on 7 November.