Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with Turkish authorities on the illegal trade in oil by Daesh across the Syrian-Turkish border.

We regularly discuss the importance of countering Daesh with the Turkish authorities, including the importance of halting the illegal oil trade. Turkey is taking steps to tackle oil smuggling across its border with Syria, including by greatly increasing the number of border guards. Turkish officials have said that they captured 79 million litres of smuggled oil last year. Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Turkey discussed the importance of cutting off Daesh’s access to oil revenues when he met Turkey’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources in December.