Joan Ryan MP has called for the Kurdish community to be included in negotiations to end Syria’s civil war and prevent future conflict in the region.

Ms Ryan’s intervention follows the publication of the Foreign Affairs Committee report on ‘Kurdish aspirations and the interests of the UK’.

The report stated that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office should ‘have a position on whether the Democratic Union Party (PYD)/People’s Protection Units (YPG) should be included within the Geneva process to end Syria’s war and discuss the country’s future, given that new fighting and a further complication of the conflict risks being the alternative.’

Joan Ryan MP said:

“I welcome this report by the Foreign Affairs Committee, which rightly calls on the UK Government to ‘support meaningful political participation and representation for Kurds’ and recognise their social and cultural rights.

The Kurdish people have achieved major victories and have made enormous sacrifices in the fight against the appalling terrorist group Daesh (ISIS).

I will continue to follow this situation closely, doing all I can to ensure that the voices of Syria’s Kurdish community are heard and that their rights are protected and upheld, so that a lasting peace in the region can be achieved.