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Turkey: Orhan Pamuk
Lord Avebury asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether, following the Orhan Pamuk case, they will make representations to the Government of Turkey concerning (a) the freedom of individuals to speak about the deaths of a million Armenians and to identify those who were responsible; and (b) the relevance of such freedom of expression to the Copenhagen conditions for accession to the European Union. [HL3688]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Triesman): The UK welcomed the closure of the case against Orhan Pamuk, but remains concerned that a number of individuals in Turkey continue to face prosecution and conviction for the non-violent expression of opinion. Cases of concern include the suspended sentence already handed down to Hrant Dink under Article 301 for "insulting Turkishness" in a series of articles he wrote on Armenian identity.
My right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary raised this with his Turkish counterpart when visiting Ankara on 26 January. We will continue to stress to Turkey the need to ensure that the right to free speech is respected in line with the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights, and the standards
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required for EU accession, including when discussing the tragedies of 1915–16. It was encouraging that a conference debated this issue on 24–25 September 2005 in Istanbul, and we welcome the Turkish Prime Minister's subsequent statement stressing the importance of respect for opposing points of view, and expressing his desire to live in a Turkey which enjoyed freedom in the widest sense.
Western European Union
Lord Jopling asked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the current cost of maintaining the Western European Union including the Parliamentary Assembly; what is the rationale for continuing its existence; and whether there are plans to disband it under discussion. [HL3625]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Lord Triesman): The UK's contribution to the Western European Union (WEU) and its assembly in 2005 was £1.7 million. The budget for 2006 has yet to be finalised.
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The member states of the WEU undertook, in the Brussels Treaty (1948, modified 1954) to provide each other with a mutual defence commitment. This mutual defence commitment remains, although when NATO was established in 1949, WEU members accepted that it would be carried out through NATO. In 1992, the WEU agreed it should be ready to undertake the Petersberg tasks—humanitarian and rescue missions, peacekeeping, peacemaking and crisis management. Following the development of the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) the WEU transferred these crisis management functions and responsibilities to the EU under the Nice Treaty in 2000. This transfer continues and the Western European Armaments Group, part of the WEU, transferred its responsibilities to the European Defence Agency in 2005. The WEU assembly remains active, bringing together parliamentarians from 28 European countries, and has oversight of intergovernmental co-operation in European defence, particularly in the field of armaments. The Government see value in this collective oversight and the WEU assembly will remain in being for as long as Article IX of the modified Brussels treaty remains in force, member governments go on funding the assembly and national parliaments support it. The UK is not currently engaged in any discussions about the disbanding of the WEU.
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