I'm very pleased that Plaid Cymru's been able to secure this debate today. A Welsh citizen who has become a friend is on hunger strike in Newport, and I was reminded of Imam Sis's commitment to building strong and diverse communities when a Facebook memory photograph popped up just this week from two years ago, when Imam and I marched together in Cardiff against racism. He was prepared to stand up for our communities then and he has on many other occasions. Now, it's our turn to stand with him and his fellow Kurds and their struggle.

I first got into politics because I wanted to challenge inequity, inequality and injustice, and that is still a motivator for me more than two decades on, and while we have so many problems to deal with here in Wales—problems and issues that we raise in this institution day in and day out—we also have a duty to speak out when there is an international matter that requires our attention, especially when it affects a Welsh citizen.

The treatment of the Kurdish people at the hands of an increasingly despotic Turkish state is one such issue. The torture meted out to the Kurdish people demands that we speak out and condemn such action. Imam Sis is on day 94 of a hunger strike. He is one of more than 300 people who have joined Kurdish politician Leyla Güven on hunger strike. The strike is to put pressure on the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment to fulfil its duties and pay a visit to check on the situation of the Kurdish leader.

I saw Imam Sis just last week, and it's hard to see how much he has deteriorated since that photograph that was taken two years ago. It's impossible not to be inspired by the unassuming and unflinching bravery that he exudes. I only hope that Turkey, a country that is a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights, fulfils its international obligations before good people like Imam Sis die.

If this national institution sends a clear message today that Turkey must cease its barbaric treatment of Kurdish people, we will contribute to increasing international pressure to resolve this situation. I have today received a response to a letter I sent to Kurdish MP Leyla Güven, who is also on hunger strike in Turkey. In that letter, she says 'our demand is completely legal and humane'. She says, 'We, the Kurds, are a people whose language, identity, culture are still criminalised. Thousands of our politicians are currently in prison for their thoughts. Our municipal buildings have been forcibly seized and are run by appointed trustees of the Government. We are a people subjected to all kinds of denial, annihilation and assimilation policies. To put an end to this lawlessness, our struggle continues.' Does anyone see any parallels here? Us Welsh should understand this. Time is fast running out for people like Leyla Güven and Imam Sis, so I urge you all to support us in this debate.