madam president i am not exactly sure why we are having this debate at this particular time
perhaps it is because it is three years since the death of hrant dink and there are still serious questions still to be answered in relation to that crime
i met dink after the trial of orhan pamuk
dink's death was of course a great tragedy and as a friend of turkey i did not hesitate to point out the damage to turkey's standing of restricting freedom of expression and being oversensitive about criticisms of the turkish state
but of course it is in turkey's interest to strengthen every aspect of her democracy
i also support the idea of turkey as a secular and united country that for over eighty years has looked to the west
i recognise the need for a strong turkish army and i recognise also the key geostrategic importance of turkey
it is for these reasons that i believe we should be very supportive of turkey and not seek constantly to find ways of criticising her and sniping at her
of course banning political parties is generally a bad idea although there are exceptions to that rule
we all recognise that terrorist organisations have political fronts and it is a fine judgment whether more damage is done by leaving a front alone or closing it down
of course the pkk has its political fronts
i will just say a word about the pkk because it continues with its terrorist activities
what is clear is that the pkk continues not only as a terrorist organisation but also with its criminal networks which extend beyond turkey throughout europe
the pkk is like a mafia with a structure carrying out criminal activity raising funds and bolstering support
it is involved in every aspect of organised crime tax evasion counterfeiting money trafficking of human beings and the narcotics trade of course is one of its key sources of funding
it just seems to me that we ought to be concentrating on doing more to overcome problems such as that in our own countries and helping the turks in that way rather than constantly sniping at them and criticising them
