Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he or his Department has made to Turkey's President Erdogan or his Government's representatives on military action in northern Syria.

​We are closely following developments in Afrin in north-western Syria, and the Foreign Secretary, the Minister for the Middle East and I are in regular contact with our Turkish counterparts. We have called for de-escalation and the protection of civilians. While recognising Turkey's legitimate interest in the security of its borders, it remains in our shared interest to focus on achieving a political settlement that ends the war and suffering, provides stability for all Syrians and the wider region, and secures the enduring defeat of Daesh.