Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions the Government has had with its allies on establishing an area in eastern Syria that could be controlled by non-Assad democratic forces.

The Government has regular discussions with our key international partners on the situation in Syria. Most recently on 10 December the Foreign Secretary met his counterparts from like-minded countries on Syria in Paris. In these discussions many possible tactics and longer-terms solutions have been considered, including different ways of supporting the Syrian opposition. The opposition continues to hold territory in several areas of the country including the north around Idlib and the south around Dera’a. With support from Turkey, the opposition has made welcome progress in taking territory from Daesh in Northern Syria, clearing Daesh from the Turkish border. The UK will remain a strong supporter of the moderate opposition in Syria.