The UK's All Party Parliamentary Group on Kurdistan: An Exploration and Conceptualisation of its Roles

Abstract

This article explores the roles and activities of, and criticisms faced by, the APPG on Kurdistan. Resources include the UK Parliament’s website, the Hansard UK Parliament’s, The Parallel Parliament’s, the APPG on Kurdistan’s databases, and APPGs’ social media materials. The article perceives the roles of the APPG on Kurdistan as external and internal and conceptualises the performance and behaviour of the APPG on Kurdistan by scrutinising these roles as a fora of politics, policy venue, pressure participants, and policy entrepreneurs. Findings include: the internal and external roles and the four conceptual roles show how the APPG on Kurdistan carries out its activities which are concerned with the UK foreign affairs; the APPG on Kurdistan has utilised the UK parliament’s various avenues and channels such as tabling Early Day Motions, securing debates at Westminster Hall, launching written evidence and reports, organising events, and questioning the pm and cabinet members on issues concerning the kr-i; the APPG on Kurdistan is not unique in its nature and activities compared to APPG groups that promote ties with foreign entities and there are concerns about some APPG funding sources.