The All-Party Parliamentary Human Rights Group (PHRG) met with Faysal Sarıyıldız, MP for Şırnak province in southeastern Anatolia Region of Turkey. The town of Cizre, which has been badly affected by the ongoing conflict in the area, is located in this region.

The main points raised by Mr Sarıyıldız were:

• The bombing in the Kurdistan region of southeast Turkey has been the worst violence in the region for decades. Thousands of homes have been destroyed, tens of thousands of people have been made homeless and many towns are still surrounded by the military.
• Mr Sarıyıldız witnessed first-hand the 79 day onslaught of Cizre, where he saw over 100 people trapped in a basement of a house set alight by the military.
• Many local journalists, councillors and mayors have been arrested in the past few months.
• The current situation is turning people in the region towards a more pro-separatist stance.
• There has been little action from the UN, EU or other international actors to stop the conflict from escalating further.
• The UK Government should do more to express their concern at the ongoing violence in south eastern Turkey with their Turkish counterparts.

The PHRG campaigns extensively for greater respect for human rights in Turkey and will continue to monitor the situation in the southeast of the country closely.