Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions (a) he and (b) Ministers of his Department have had with Kurdish political leaders from the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

​I spoke to Mr. Nechivan Barzani, Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, on 17 October, whilst our Ambassador to Iraq and officials at our Consulate in Erbil are in regular contact with a number of Kurdish political leaders in the Kurdistan Regional Government. In these discussions we have made it clear that we believe the long-term security and prosperity of all Iraqis, including the Kurds, can only be met through dialogue and cooperation. We are urging all parties, including the Government of Iraq and Iraq’s neighbours, to promote calm.