§ Mr. CorbynTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what military personnel on non-NATO duties have been stationed in(a) Turkey and (b) Iraq in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [31490]
§ Dr. ReidOperation Warden, the UK contribution to coalition air patrols at the northern no-fly-zone over Iraq was established in 1991. Since then, there have been, at any one time, an average of 185 UK military personnel based in Turkey supporting the operation. Two military officers are employed in the Defence Section of the British Embassy in Ankara.
Five UK military personnel were based in Zakho in northern Iraq as part of the military coordination committee (which provided a military presence to reassure Kurdish areas of northern Iraq and to liaise with aid agencies in the area) between 1991 and September 1996. One member of the UK armed forces is based in the Baghdad monitoring and verification Centre as part of the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) aerial inspection team. A number of other UK military personnel have served with UNSCOM on inspection duties for short periods of time.