8. Plaid Cymru Debate: The Kurds in Turkey

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:44 pm on 20 March 2019.

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Photo of Jenny Rathbone Jenny Rathbone Labour 5:44, 20 March 2019

I just wanted to pick up on what you were saying about how part of the Kurdish community is owned by Iran and partly by—. It's not owned by them; it's occupied by them. And we have to realise that people don't go on hunger strike because they just want to bring attention to themselves. There has to be some really, really fierce commitment that will give them the strength to end their life, effectively, for the cause that they are endeavouring to achieve. I met Imam Sis last night, and I have to say that everything that has been said about him by other people is absolutely true. He is an extremely upright and admirable individual, and we simply have to be a little bit more reflective on why it is that people are so desperate to get their cause heard and their self-determination so that they're not continuing to be bombed and imprisoned for simply wanting to speak their own language and have their own self-administration.