Scot Lib Dems respond to Yousaf’s Turkish President invite

Responding to reports that Humza Yousaf has invited the Turkish President to Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

"The First Minister has been vocal about the situation in the Middle East. I hope that he will be equally vocal about President Erdogan's oppression of his Kurdish minority and his use of the tools of state to initiate baseless investigations, prosecutions and convictions against human rights defenders, journalists and opposition activists.

"It's right that the First Minister engages with international partners but he must be careful not to turn a blind eye to human rights abuses.

"One way of reassuring people that this is not simply a bid to play the international statesman for the cameras would be to publish a list of occasions on which he has previously raised human rights concerns with foreign dignitaries."