mr president tolerance of another's belief is a trait of a civilised society
the horrific events in egypt and iraq go against human rights and basic principles of freedom of thought and expression
no one should be persecuted because of their religious beliefs
the action of curtailing christians or any other faith in the practice of their religion is totally unacceptable in our society
but before we criticise we should put our own house in order
last month the christmas religious services were prohibited in the occupied village of rizokarpaso in cyprus
as we all know the eu member state of the republic of cyprus is at present and has been for thirty-six years under part-occupation by turkey
the action by the occupying turkish army of entering a church forcing the priest to terminate the service and forcing the people attending it to leave is unacceptable
this incident is now being considered by the un
so as we talk about the situation in countries outside the eu and about the freedom of christians i would like to remind this chamber that we need to sort out our own house first
we cannot accept any forms of discrimination in this chamber if we are to be credible in the wider context
