Mr. Speaker, the hon. member mentioned the situation in Turkey.
While it is profoundly important that we debate in this chamber tonight the role of Canada in Kosovo and our possible role in Africa, it is also essential, particularly at this very crucial and difficult time, that we note another human tragedy unfolding, the tragedy of the Kurds. I want to take the opportunity of this debate to make a brief comment on that.
As members know, Kurds around the world have been voicing a sense of anguish, pain, anger, outrage and deep concern about the arrest of Abdullah Ocalan or Apo. Here in Ottawa today we unfortunately saw a violent confrontation outside the Turkish embassy. Fortunately it was ultimately resolved in a peaceful manner.
I want to take the opportunity of this debate to call on our government, the Government of Canada, to end its shameful silence on the plight of the Kurds, particularly in Turkey but also in Iraq, Iran and Syria. I fear that our desire to sell Candu reactors and military hardware as well as our membership in the NATO alliance have silenced us.
We cannot remain silent on this issue. It is essential that Canada play an important role. With respect to the arrest of Ocalan, it is essential that Canada and others in the international community take steps urgently to ensure an open and fair trial for Mr. Ocalan, to see that he is not tortured as the UN special rapporteur on torture has urged as well. I am calling on our government to send a delegation to Turkey to monitor this very serious question.
Most important, it is time that our government spoke out with respect to the underlying massive violation of the fundamental human, political and cultural rights of the Kurdish people which have led to the destruction of Kurdish villages, which have led to the murder, torture and killing of over 30,000 people.
In conclusion I take this opportunity to say that we face terrible tragedy in Kosovo and the Central African Republic, but let us not lose sight of the unfolding human tragedy of the Kurdish people that for too long has been ignored.
Biji Kurdistan