Robert Lowe and Dr Zeynep Kaya from LSE’s Middle East Centre have contributed evidence to a Foreign Affairs Committee Report which warns of the ‘risk of new fighting in the Middle East’ following the defeat of Daesh.
The report, released this week, investigates the aspirations of Kurdish groups in Iraq and Syria in relation to the interests of the UK. The committee argue that those who fought and defeated Daesh shared an enemy, but differ in their vision for what should replace it, a tension that has increased the risk of future wars.
In Syria, the Committee Chair labelled the Foreign Office’s position towards the People's Protection Units (YPG) ‘incoherent’. The report finds that the expansion of the YPG in northern and eastern Syria was assisted by UK military support, yet the Foreign Office also presented evidence which linked the YPG to terrorist groups.
In Iraq, the Foreign Office was praised for its recent diplomatic work but the Committee urged it to play more of an active role in facilitating dialogue between Kurdish groups and Baghdad after last year's referendum on Kurdish independence was met with a heavy-handed response by Baghdad.
The report, which comes following a three-month inquiry where Robert Lowe and Dr Zeynep Kaya acted as Specialist Advisors, finds the UK’s interests are threatened by the prospect of further conflict in these areas.
Commenting on the report and his role, Robert Lowe says:
“We provided specialist advice to the committee over the inquiry into the aspirations of Kurdish groups in Iraq and Syria and how they relate to the interests of the UK. This involved advising the committee secretariat, contributing to briefing material, attending committee meetings and providing oral briefings.
“The report provides an assessment of the complex political developments in these Kurdish areas and scrutinizes the UK’s response to the expansion of Kurdish controlled-territory in Syria and the turbulence in Iraq following the Kurdish referendum for independence.”
To read the full report, please click here.