Mr. Speaker. a more immediate attempt to silence criticism during Habitat is evidenced by the police closure of a building used by 35 NGOs boycotting the conference to protest government human rights and Kurdish policies. These groups have organized an alternative Habitat to publicly protest the destruction of almost 3.000 Kurdish villages and creation of almost 3 million refugees. These groups rightly contend that such policies are incompatible with the goals of Habitat and reflect serious threats to democracy and development of civil society in Turkey. Yet instead of allowing open discussion of these serious issues. the Government of Turkey has once again chosen to respond with repression--in full view of the international community.
Keywords matched
refugees