To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to make contact with the democratic representatives of the cantons of Afrin, Kobane and Jazira, in Syria; if not, why not; and whether they plan to ask the United Nations mediator to make similar approaches.

The UK does not currently intend to make specific contact with the Kurdish cantons on political issues in Syria. The UK has engaged with Saleh Muslim, co-leader of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), who is their Foreign Affairs envoy. Saleh Muslim met UN Special Envoy Staffan De Mistura in May as part of the UN envoy’s consultations with parties trying to find a political settlement to the conflict. Syria’s political issues will need to be resolved through this wider political track.