Syria

Julian Lewis Excerpts

Monday 10th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Falconer]

I discussed these issues with my Turkish counterpart in Ankara last week. It is a shared position of the British and Turkish Governments that we want a peaceful resolution to the tensions in northern Syria leading to an inclusive Government—including all the communities. The developments in Turkey are clearly welcome, including the statement from Mr Öcalan that the PKK will lay down its arms. We do not want to see Turkey threatened by foreign terrorist fighters from anywhere, including Syria, but, as my hon. Friend said, it is also vital that the violence in northern Syria stops.

[Sir Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con)]

The collapse of Assad was always going to be a setback for Russia, but it was also always going to be a boost for the Islamist opposition. Even if there is only a 5% chance of forming an inclusive, democratic, stable Syria, the Government are clearly right to try to promote that, but they should also recognise that the real threats to us are chemical weapons falling into Islamist hands and the Syrian Democratic Forces no longer being able to keep under control those Islamists who are currently confined in camps. What happens when they are released?

[Mr Falconer]

The right hon. Gentleman is right about the vital importance of safely destroying the chemical weapons programme in Syria; I am glad that some progress has been made in that regard. We have increased our funding and co-operation with the OPCW and have been encouraging of those efforts in Syria to start the safe and full destruction of the chemical weapons programme. We remain clear-eyed about the continuing threats from ISIS in north and east Syria and we are conscious of the risk from those camps, as raised by the shadow Foreign Secretary. We remain closely engaged with all our partners on those questions.