Sir, - Engin Asula, first secretary of the Turkish Embassy (June 5th) refers to 75 years of democracy in Turkey. May I ask her what kind of democracy she means when one considers Leyda Zana and the five other MPs from the Kurdish political party (Democratic Party) who are still in prison for advocating the cause for an independent Kurdistan; the outlawing by the Turkish government of any reference to Kurdistan; the destruction of thousands of villages in Kurdistan; and the continued complacency of the Turkish government toward documented torture, ill treatment and deaths in custody at the hands of law enforcement officers, which was recently highlighted by Amnesty International? - Yours, etc., Colm O'Brien,
Sandymount Road,
Dublin 4.