Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Government of the Republic of Iraq on the opening to international passenger flights of the two airports in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq; and if he will make a statement.

​We are urging the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government to resolve their differences at every opportunity. Officials at our Posts in Iraq are pressing this message, as are UK ministers. The Foreign Secretary spoke to Prime Minister Abadi on 6 February and emphasised the need for an agreement on the management of border security, thereby enabling international flights into the Kurdistan Region to re-start. The Prime Minister also raised this issue during her visit to Iraq in November 2017, as i did in my conversation with Prime Minister Abadi on 17th February.