Kurds

Kurdish Syrians demonstrate in the Syrian eastern city of Qamishli to demand the release of the jailed founder of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan in Turkey, on May 29, 2025.

Turkey’s pro-Kurdish DEM party to meet jailed PKK leader Ocalan

The meeting will come as Ankara ramps up threats against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces to disarm.

Smoke billows over a neighborhood of Sulaimaniyah, east of the autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq, after security forces arrested opposition figure Lahur Sheikh Jangi, following several hours of armed clashes on Aug. 22, 2025.

Analysis

Iraqi Kurdish factional feuds erupt anew with violent arrest of Lahur Talabani

Violent clashes in Sulaimaniyah underscore long-standing political tensions and a scramble for influence in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

DEM Party co-chair Tuncer Bakirhan speaks during a group meeting in Ankara, on May 13, 2025.

Turkey’s parliamentary body on solving Kurdish issue bars Kurdish language speech

Two Kurdish women invited to address the parliamentary committee were told they could not speak Kurdish during the session.

Sharaa Kobane

Analysis

Syria state media's Kurdish-language launch: tactical move or real shift?

SANA's foray into the Kurdish language is largely symbolic and part of Damascus’ efforts to project an image of compromise amid tense negotiations.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Latest News

Iraq begins exhuming ISIS mass grave at Al-Khasfa thought to hold 3,000+ victims

Workers dig out human remains at the Khasfa site near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, where authorities have begun excavating a mass grave believed to contain thousands of victims of the Islamic State (IS) on Aug. 17, 2025.

Analysis

Lebanon key to Trump plan for turnaround in Middle East

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, right, meets with US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack, in Baabda, east of Beirut, July 7, 2025.

Andrew Parasiliti

By Andrew Parasiliti

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, national security

Senate defense spending bill would restrict US troop drawdown from Syria

US soldiers patrol in Syria's northeastern city Qamishli, in the Hasakah province, mostly controlled by Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, on Jan. 9, 2025.

Jared Szuba

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Kurdish militants return abducted Turkish agents as fragile peace push continues

Fighters with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) line up to put their weapons into a pit during a ceremony in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, on July 11, 2025.

Members of the Lebanese Kurdish community wave the flags of (L to R) the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), Women's Protection Units (YPJ), another showing jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan, and the flag of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), during a celebration marking the spring festival of Nowruz (Noruz) in Lebanon's coastal town of Damour, 24 kilometers south of Beirut, on March 24, 2019.

Analysis

Can Turkey dismantle PKK, push SDF integration while rewriting rules in Syria?

Ankara hopes for the PKK's disarmament and the SDF's integration under Damascus, but skepticism and risks remain.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Mazlum Kobane, commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), speaks during the pan-Kurdish "Unity and Consensus" conference in Qamishli in northeastern Syria, on April 26, 2025.

Analysis

Emboldened by Suwayda fallout, Syria’s Kurds hold their ground with Damascus

The Suwayda crisis boosts Kurdish confidence and threatens Erdogan’s bid to secure Kurdish support for a third term.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

US Syria envoy Tom Barrack, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani meet in Paris on July 25, 2025.

US envoy, Syria FM meet in Paris, seek Kurdish integration deal

The Paris talks come amid stalled efforts to integrate Kurdish-led forces into a unified Syrian army and rising tensions in Suwayda.

Syrian security forces stand guard in front of the heavily damaged Syrian army and defense ministry headquarters complex in Damascus, following Israeli strikes on July 16, 2025.

Syria turns to Turkey for military support as US envoy urges strategy rethink

The move deepens Ankara’s influence with the new government as Kurdish forces in Syria's northeast face new pressure to integrate with Syrian army.

A general view shows the Iranian-Iraqi border crossing point of Bashmakh in the Kurdistan province, March 3, 2007.

2 Iranian border guards killed in Kurdistan province: What to know

Iraq agreed to move Iranian Kurdish groups farther from the border in 2023, but some clashes have occurred since then.

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - MAY 16: (EDITOR’S NOTE: This Handout image was provided by a third-party organization and may not adhere to Getty Images’ editorial policy.) In this handout image provided by the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (R) are seen as Ukrainian, American and Russian delegates meet for peace talks at the office of Turkish President in Dolmabahce Palace on May 16, 2025 in Istanbul, Turkey. Under pressure from the United States to

‘We will intervene’: Turkey’s Fidan warns against dividing Syria

Ankara threatens action against the Kurdish-led SDF as the US pushes for the group’s integration into a post-regime Damascus.

Bedouin fighters are seen on the streets of al-Mazraa village in Syria's southern Suwayda governorate on July 18, 2025, in Suwayda, Syria.

Suwayda violence boosts Kurds’ leverage as US Syria envoy, SDF chief meet

Syria's Kurds remain hesitant about integration with Damascus as interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa struggles with unrest in Suwayda.

Iraqi workers tend to a pipe at the Iraqi-Turkish pipeline in Karkuk, northern Iraq, Dec. 1, 2000.

Why Turkey plans to end its 52-year oil pipeline deal with Iraq

The Turkish decree stipulated that the 1973 Turkey-Iraq Crude Oil Pipeline Agreement — along with all amendments to the deal — would be terminated effective July 27, 2026.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) and Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa shake hands during a joint press conference following their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, on Feb. 4, 2025. — OZAN KOSE/Getty

Analysis

Suwayda clashes stoke Turkey's fears of Kurdish gains, Syria's fragmentation

Amid Israeli strikes and sectarian violence, Turkey is doubling down on preserving Syrian territorial integrity, hoping to manage refugee returns and prevent Kurdish autonomy.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Fighters from Bedouin tribes gather near a burning building in al-Mazraa village, in Syria's southern Suwayda governorate, as clashes with Druze gunmen continue, on July 18, 2025.

Turkey on edge as clashes continue in Syria's Suwayda, Kurds weigh next move

Turkey fears a deepening ethnic fracture in Syria could redraw the regional map — and embolden its own Kurdish population.

SAFIN HAMID/AFP via Getty Images

Drone strike halts operations at Iraqi Kurdistan oil field: What to know

A second drone attack in as many days has suspended operations at an oil facility in Iraqi Kurdistan, with initial investigations pointing to Iran-aligned armed groups.

Barrack and Sharaa

'One road to Damascus': Syria's Kurds recoil as US envoy urges deal with Sharaa

Tom Barrack’s call for Kurdish integration under a central Syrian government reflects a shift in US policy, drawing concern from Kurdish leaders about their future autonomy.