Turkish Incursion into Northern Syria Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Jeff Smith
Main Page: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester Withington)Department Debates - View all Jeff Smith's debates with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
(5Â years ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
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Dominic Raab
I understand the depth of the hon. Gentleman’s concern. It is not clear to me where he thinks that a prosecution would or would not take place, but as someone was formerly a war crimes lawyer, I would absolutely want any serious violations of international humanitarian law to lead to people being brought to account.
Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington) (Lab)
I met a group of Kurdish constituents on Friday, and they were dismayed at what had happened. They were disappointed by what they saw as a weak response from the international community, and they were firmly of the view that the UK had a special responsibility to help to resolve the situation, given our historic influence in the region. The Foreign Secretary says that the situation is under review. Can he tell my constituents what needs to change on the ground in order that he and the EU might consider further action, including sanctions?
Dominic Raab
The action we want to see changed on the ground is for Turkey to withdraw, and we are looking at what is the most effective means of engaging with Turkey and encouraging it to withdraw as quickly as possible and undertake maximum restraint. We will continue to do that, and obviously we will look closely at all the levers and approaches that we need to take in order to achieve that objective with our European, as well as our American, partners.