BRITAIN is authoritarian Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s biggest ally in Europe, possibly the world.

It was the only country to invite him on a state visit during last year’s election campaign where he was met with lively protest from Turkish and Kurdish groups.

It was here that then prime minister Theresa May caused outrage when she praised him during a press conference for his efforts in fighting “Kurdish terrorism.”

Britain is also one of the Turkish state’s biggest arms sellers, with May signing a fighter jet deal worth £100 million in January 2017, just months after scores of opposition MPs from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) were jailed by Mr Erdogan’s regime.

The party has remained under intense pressure since its foundation in 2014. The HDP is described as “a beacon of hope” bringing together trade unionists, environmentalists, Marxists and others in a broad progressive party.

The election of 80 HDP MPs in 2015 was seen as a breakthrough in Turkish politics and brought an end to Mr Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) majority.

But the government hit back, arresting its MPs, including co-leaders Figen Yuksekdag and Selahattin Demirtas, in a series of raids in November 2016. Around 9,000 of its activists have also been jailed in a crackdown on the party.

This is the equivalent of PM Boris Johnson locking up Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell in Belmarsh prison without trial and rounding up the whole of Momentum and jailing them. The situation is serious.

But while attacks on the HDP have intensified, the world has looked the other way. Unfortunately, this has included the Labour Party, which, when pressed, has released statements condemning Turkey, but takes very few practical or meaningful steps to support the forces of democracy.

At Labour’s annual conference there are at least 90 motions discussing Brexit and 145 on the green new deal — both areas where the party already has existing policy and unlikely to bring about real and meaningful change. But there is not a single motion on Turkey or the HDP.

While conference delegates are sitting in the Brighton Conference Centre this week, their counterparts in Turkey are resisting attempts to close down Labour’s sister party at great risk.

They face brutal attacks from Turkish state forces, being tear gassed, beaten and detained as they take a stand for freedom and democracy.

In August the Turkish state moved against the party once more, removing three elected HDP mayors from largely Kurdish municipalities of Diyarbakir, Mardin and Van.

On Monday the HDP Ankara Women’s Platform came under attack during a peaceful protest defending the party’s co-chair system, which has been branded an act of terrorism by the Turkish state.

Kurds have a saying: “We have no friends but the mountains.” This has to change and, as a progressive party committed to international solidarity, Labour needs to be bolder and more strident in supporting its sister party.

HDP representative Osman Baydemir, a former MP for Urfa and twice elected mayor of Diyarbakir, described the latest attacks on the HDP as “a political coup against the will of the people.”

He appealed to Jeremy Corbyn to do more to support the HDP, fearing the party may be shut down altogether. 

Sarah-Jane McDonough is a Labour councillor in Stevenage and an activist in the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) union. 

She has been an active supporter of the HDP and the struggle for freedom and democracy in Turkey, moving a motion at the union’s annual conference in Glasgow in support of journalists in the country.

Her role as a Labour councillor has seen her support calls for her local authority to twin with one of those taken over by trustees in Turkey.

“In our 2018 policy paper ‘A World for the Many,’ we promised to be the party of international social justice,” she said.

“When we see what is happening to our sister party in Turkey, it is time to put that into practice and speak out for them and for all who are suffering under this brutal regime [of Erdogan].”

Aslef and Labour activist San Senik agreed. She told the Star that more needs to be done to inform MPs and members about the attacks on HDP, saying her own Labour MP was unaware that party leaders had been jailed.

“Labour has been silent,” she said. “Things have to change.”

What can people do to support those struggling for freedom and democracy in Turkey?

A major new campaign in solidarity with this struggling for freedom and democracy in Turkey and Kurdistan will be launched at this week’s Labour Party conference.

Councillors can twin with their counterparts who are either jailed or under threat of being jailed in Turkey. If you are not a councillor then you can twin with a member of HDP.

Local authorities and district councils can twin with those like Diyarbkir, Mardin and Van.

Join the photocall and press statement on Tuesday lunchtime on Brighton seafront.

The campaign is happy to come and speak at your CLP, Momentum branch or trade union at any level and urges you to pass motions in support.

For details on how to affiliate and get involved in practical work and support the launch of a new, broad and united campaign building practical support and solidarity with HDP and forces fighting for democracy in Turkey/Kurdistan email [email protected].