Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps he is taking to promote stability in the (a) region of Kurdistan and (b) surrounding area.

Through our diplomatic engagements, we continue to encourage greater cooperation between Baghdad and Erbil to resolve their outstanding issues, as well as between the political parties in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).

Our focus remains on bolstering the region's stability through our bilateral programming and defence offer. As a leading member of the Global Coalition, the UK supports the Iraqi Security Forces and the Kurdish Peshmerga to tackle the threat from Daesh and promote stability. This is in addition to the UK's contribution to NATO Mission in Iraq.