The bid to ban the HADEP party in Turkey and the court case against it, starting in Ankara tomorrow, are just one example of how fundamental democratic rights are being violated in Turkey, where any political activity has to be sanctioned by the military regime. Obviously, one of the reasons it is being prosecuted and will probably be outlawed is because there is every likelihood of its winning a large number of seats in parliament at the next elections. It is, in principle, a good thing that the European Parliament intends to call on the Turkish government to stop persecuting this party. But we should not forget that it is not the only political party being persecuted. Other parties have been banned or are in the process of being banned. According to Article 96 of the law on political parties in Turkey, any party with the word 'Communist' in its name is banned. That is why the newly-founded Communist Party of Greece was warned by the Turkish judicial authorities that it would be banned unless it changed its name, with party members subsequently being arrested during the course of their political activities and attacks on their offices. There are still thousands of political prisoners being held in wretched conditions, mainly in F-type solitary confinement cells. It was because of this that political prisoners went on hunger strike and many of them and many of the relatives and partners supporting them have since died. And the hunger strike to the death which started on 20 October 2000 still continues, with dozens already dead. We demand that the European Parliament join with the Turkish democrats in calling for political parties to be allowed to go about their business, for freedom of expression to be introduced and, more generally, for democratic rights and freedoms to be respected and that it call for political prisoners to be released and for the so-called F-type cells to be abolished or for the proposal made by Turkish law societies and other social bodies for three cells to be joined together, now referred to as the 'three doors, three locks' proposal, to be accepted Obviously a lot of people, including in this Chamber, deliberately talk of progress in Turkey, knowing that, to all intents and purposes, there is no progress or that, in certain sectors, things have got worse. They want no change to the status quo, so that it is easier for them to exploit Turkey's market, its cheap labour and its geopolitical position. Nor do they explain why there are still insurmountable obstacles to the Kurdish culture and language, why more than 10 000 political prisoners are languishing in gaol in what we know to be wretched conditions, why political parties which oppose the policies of the Turkish regime are being banned or are threatened with being banned, why democratic freedom fighters are being arrested and murdered on a daily basis and why the 'democratic' Republic of Turkey is still being run by its army. We stand by the people of Turkey in their struggle to establish democracy and progress. We denounce the efforts being made to muzzle them and the support being given to the regime by those looking to their own imperialist interests.

Political group: GUE-NGL