Politics

UK Labour MPs Raise Kurdish Concerns as Western Kurdistan Crisis Deepens

UK Labour MP Feryal Clark raised Kurdish concerns with senior officials, citing abandonment despite sacrifices against ISIS, as European lawmakers warn EU silence is worsening the Western Kurdistan crisis.

Feryal Clark, Labour Member of the UK Parliament for Enfield North (R), and John McDonnell, Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington (L). (Photo: MP's X)
Feryal Clark, Labour Member of the UK Parliament for Enfield North (R), and John McDonnell, Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington (L). (Photo: MP's X)
Europe United Kingdom (UK) Western Kurdistan Feryal Clark Peray Ahmet Ergin Erbil Councillor Sarbaz Barznji John McDonnell

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - As conflict, displacement, and humanitarian hardship continue to deepen in Western Kurdistan (Northern Syria), concerns raised by European lawmakers are now echoed inside the U.S. Parliament, where Labour MP Feryal Clark has publicly voiced support for Kurdish communities in Syria and warned of a growing sense of abandonment among those who fought to defeat ISIS.

Feryal Clark, Labour Member of the UK Parliament for Enfield North, said she raised Kurdish concerns directly with senior British officials, stressing that words must be matched by sustained action to protect civilians and uphold international law.

Clark stated on her official X account that she met with the Foreign Secretary and the Middle East Minister to discuss the situation in Western Kurdistan. The meeting took place alongside Peray Ahmet, Leader of Haringey Council and Councillor for Noel Park; Ergin Erbil, Labour Councillor for Edmonton Green Ward; and Sarbaz Barznji, Councillor and the 2023–2024 Mayor of Lambeth, London..

In her post, Clark said the discussions focused on “the growing sense of abandonment felt by Kurdish communities in Syria who fought bravely to defeat ISIS.”

She added that the meeting also addressed “serious and disturbing accounts of atrocities being reported on the ground.”

Clark described it as “reassuring” to hear the Foreign Secretary’s commitment to finding a way through the crisis, saying she was assured that her concerns would be fed directly into ongoing diplomatic efforts and that the Foreign Secretary would remain in close contact with her.

“At a time of rising instability, words must be matched by sustained action,” Clark wrote, adding that she would continue to press “for real accountability, for international law to be upheld, and for civilians and vulnerable Kurdish communities and other minorities to be protected as they are once again caught in the crossfire.”

Her actions drew support from John McDonnell, Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington, who also posted on his official X account.

“Well done to @FeryalClark for raising the plight of Kurds in Rojava & calling upon the government to press the Syrian government to adhere to the March 2025 agreement & to providing protection & security to the Kurds, recognising their major contribution to defeating Isis,” McDonnell wrote.

Clark’s remarks come amid intensifying criticism from European lawmakers over what they describe as inaction by international institutions toward Western Kurdistan.

In a separate interview with Kurdistan24’s correspondent in Europe, Barzan Hassan, four Members of the European Parliament warned that continued political silence is enabling suffering on the ground and disregarding Kurdish sacrifices in the fight against ISIS.

Jonas Sjöstedt, a Member of the European Parliament, said his concerns were driven by ongoing attacks against Kurds in Syria.

“I’m here because I’m very worried that the Kurds in Syria are under brutal attack, not only by the Syrian army but also by jihadistic groups,” Sjöstedt said. “Some of these groups are true extremists, and some of them are acting on behalf of Turkey, they are Turkey-led. And now is the time for a ceasefire, they must stop attacking the Kurds. They should withdraw their forces and start to sit down at the negotiating table and negotiate.”

Cecilia Strada, also a Member of the European Parliament, said her position was rooted in support for Kurdish rights and alarm over renewed siege conditions.

“I am here because I fully support the need of the Kurdish people to live in freedom, in safety, in dignity in their land,” she said. “And as a member of the European Parliament, I’m very concerned about what’s happening there.”

She added: “We see that Western Kurdistan is again under siege, and we need to protect the Kurdish people. The European institution must act now to protect the Kurdish people, like the Kurdish people protected us when they were fighting against Daesh, when they were defeating Daesh.”

Strada also pointed to the administration in northeastern Syria, describing it as “that extraordinary experiment of grassroots democracy,” and said: “Unfortunately, the European institutions are not acting, and we, members of the European Parliament, are pushing them to act and to act now.”

Daniel Attard, another Member of the European Parliament, said solidarity alone was not enough.

“I am here not just in solidarity with the Kurdish people who stood at the front line to defeat ISIS in Western Kurdistan, but also to demand clear action from the international community and from the European Union,” he said.

“We cannot tolerate a situation whereby a massacre is unfolding on the Kurds in Western Kurdistan with the blessing of the international community and of the European Union, because our silence amounts to complicity,” Attard added, also criticizing European funding policies.

Marco Tarquinio, a Member of the European Parliament from Italy, framed the situation as a broader democratic issue.

“I believe that every attack on Western Kurdistan at this moment is an attack on democracy, on the hope for democracy in the Middle East,” he said, calling for sustained attention within European institutions.

In related remarks, Evin Inger, a Member of the European Parliament, and Mani Hussaini, a Member of the Norwegian Parliament, previously criticized the silence of NATO and the European Union.

Inger said Turkey’s NATO membership has contributed to alliance silence, calling the situation “unacceptable,” and stressed that when funds are sent to governments, conditions tied to international law must apply.

Hussaini described developments in Western Kurdistan and the east as “genocide,” reminding that more than twenty thousand Kurds were martyred in the fight against ISIS while defending European security. He also highlighted humanitarian concerns in Kobani, which he said had been under siege for more than a week without food, water, or electricity.

From Brussels to the U.S. Parliament, lawmakers are increasingly warning that continued political silence risks deepening suffering in Western Kurdistan, as calls grow for accountability, protection of civilians, and recognition of Kurdish sacrifices against ISIS.

 
 



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