Kerry’s question to the Foreign Secretary over Turkish actions in north Syria

15th October, 2019

Urgent Question on arms sales to Turkey

I welcome the Government’s decision to suspend arms sales to Turkey due to their reckless aggression in north-eastern Syria. In an Urgent Question in the House of Commons today, I asked the Foreign Secretary to clarify what the Defence Secretary had said to NATO, that “Turkey needs to do what it sometimes has to do to defend itself”, which implies that the UK believes Turkey to be acting in self-defence, despite Turkey’s military offensive clearly being an act of aggression.I still believe the Government needs to consider further actions against the Turkish Government, such as economic sanctions, travel bans, and the suspension of Turkey’s NATO membership.

Posted by Kerry McCarthy on Tuesday, October 15, 2019

I welcome the Government’s decision to suspend arms sales to Turkey due to their reckless aggression in north-eastern Syria. In an Urgent Question in the House of Commons today, I asked the Foreign Secretary to clarify what the Defence Secretary had said to NATO, that “Turkey needs to do what it sometimes has to do to defend itself”, which implies that the UK believes Turkey to be acting in self-defence, despite Turkey’s military offensive clearly being an act of aggression.

I still believe the Government needs to consider further actions against the Turkish Government, such as economic sanctions, travel bans, and the suspension of Turkey’s NATO membership.