You shall not wrong an alien, neither shall you oppress him, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

In other words, the EU s own governments acknowledged in 2003 that the Turkish government had persecuted more than 2,000 of its own citizens.

As people at last began to hope for more liberal and decent societies, the US continued to endorse the regimes that were repressing them. America simply could not adhere to its own democracy promotion script.

There are various reasons for this opposition some valid, some based on prejudice Turkey is too big Turkish migrant workers might swamp other members Turkey has a shaky human rights record Turkey oppresses the Kurds Turkey hasn t solved its problems with Greece over Cyprus.

We, the undersigned, believe that the EU, as one of the driving forces in international politics, needs to speak out in unison against governments oppressing their own citizens. The EU should denounce human rights violations in Cuba and call for the immediate release of all prisoners of conscience. The Ministers of Foreign Affairs from all EU member states should send a demarche on March 18th to their Cuban counterpart demanding their release as well.