Foreign Affairs Committee
7 September 2026
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Foreign Affairs Committee House of Commons
00:04 - 00:19
Speaker 4
The Foreign Affairs Committee is beginning its formal inquiry into Syria. And we're very grateful to have in front of us, would you like to introduce yourself?
00:19 - 00:31
Speaker 5
My name is Reem Turkmani. I'm assistant professorial research fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science. And I run a research program about Syria that's been running for more than 12 years.
00:31 - 00:40
Speaker 3
Thank you. I'm Neil Quilliam. I'm an associate fellow at Chatham House in the Middle East North Africa program and I've run various Syria projects over the years.
00:40 - 02:02
Speaker 4
I think many of us as we come into the beginning of September become increasingly mindful as we get to the to 9/11 about the terrible deaths and we'll never forget the pictures of the airplanes going into those the Twin Towers and the impact that it had on international politics. And I think it's important for the Foreign Affairs Committee to just officially mark this awful anniversary once more. But can we just move on to what's been happening to Syria that's also had a decade of conflict, huge displacement, collapse of institutions, terrible human rights abuses. Given all of that, I wondered if our witnesses could perhaps begin by helping us understand how much Syria may have changed recently and whether it can be seen as positive change and whether it is moving in a more democratic and inclusive direction. I wonder, Dr. Turkmani, would you mind beginning?
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