Kurds

PALM BEACH, FLORIDA - DECEMBER 29: (EDITOR'S NOTE: Alternate crop) U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to his Mar-a-Lago club on December 29, 2025 in Palm Beach, Florida. The two leaders are scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting to discuss regional security in the Middle East as well as the U.S.-Israel partnership. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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Trump 'hit the brakes': Netanyahu's circle faults US president for failed Iran regime change, looming deal

With regime in Iran still standing and a possible US-Iran agreement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands to pay the ultimate political price as elections near in Israel.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

An undated image of Foza Yusif.

Interview

Top Syrian Kurdish official slams parliamentary vote in northeast as 'undemocratic'

Foza Yusuf, a senior figure in Syria’s Kurdish-led autonomous administration, said the May 24 parliamentary vote was structured to disadvantage Kurdish parties.

Foza Yusuf

Foza Yusuf

Top Syrian Kurdish official

Mazloum 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.

Interview

Syrian Kurdish commander Kobane says Turkey visit ‘in the making,’ Ocalan meeting possible

The SDF commander-in-chief reflected on a fragile integration deal with Damascus, growing Kurdish backlash and ongoing talks with Turkey as questions mount over Rojava’s political future.

Mazloum Kobane

Mazloum Kobane

SDF commander in chief

Turkish Red Crescent's cars and trucks cross the Turkish border as they leave the Syrian city of Tel Abyad on Oct. 19, 2019, in Akcakale, Turkey.

Turkey's border reopening unlocks new sphere of influence in Syria

Turkey reopened the Akcakale-Tell Abyad crossing on Monday, ending an 11-year closure along the Syria border.

Latest News

How Syria's border opening with Iraq redefines Turkey-Kurd balance

Members of Iraq's security forces stand guard on the the al-Rabia border crossing with Syria on April 20, 2026.

Analysis

Is Syria’s Sharaa poised to outdo Turkey in formalizing gains for Kurds?

Kurdish people waving Kurdistan flags gather to celebrate Nowruz on the hill of Urkesh in the countryside of Amuda in northeastern Syria on March 18, 2026. Nowruz, meaning "new day," is an ancient festival that marks the start of spring and the new year on the vernal equinox, which usually falls on March 20 or 21. It is celebrated by more than 300 million people worldwide and has been observed for over 3,000 years across regions including the Middle East, Central Asia, the Caucasus and parts of Eastern Euro

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Interview

Despite Trump’s U-turns, US may still support Iran’s Kurds, says Komala’s Mohtadi

A armed Kurdish Peshmerga of the Komala party waves the Komala flag in a ceremony held in memory of Komala Martyrs' Day in Sidakan, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, on March 17, 2021.

Abdulla Mohtadi

Abdulla Mohtadi

Leader of Komala

Analysis

Inside Turkey’s role in the US-Iran ceasefire

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) walks with Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif upon his arrival during an official ceremony at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, Turkey on June 1, 2022. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

A police car is seen outside the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm, Swedem, Jan. 31, 2024.

Mossad says Iran behind attacks on Israeli targets in Sweden, Belgium

Two months before the Olympic Games in France, the Mossad warns that criminal organizations are acting on Iran's behalf to target Israelis and Jews across Europe.

Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, looks on during a joint statement to the media in Baghdad on April 22, 2024.

What’s behind Erdogan’s pardoning of generals jailed over Turkey’s 1997 coup?

The move comes after a landmark meeting between the Turkish president and the main opposition leader that sparked hopes for political reforms in the country.

A boy waves a flag of jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan as tens of thousands of Kurds gather during a rally of the DTP.

Turkey hands Kurdish leaders heavy sentences, dimming hopes of democratic change

Selahattin Demirtas, co-leader of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), and others were sentenced to a combined 375 years in Turkish prisons. Demirtas has remained in prison since 2016.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei (L) welcomes Nechirvan Barzani, the regional president of Iraqi Kurdistan, during an official visit to Tehran on May 6, 2024. (Photo: KRG Presidency)

Analysis

In Iran, Iraqi Kurdistan President Barzani welcomed by Khamenei, IRGC

Nechirvan Barzani’s trip to Tehran follows tensions between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Islamic Republic over Kurdish armed groups and attacks by Iran-backed militias.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Islamic state women outside a Hawala money transfer shop at Roj camp in northeastern Syria, April 9, 2024.

Syria’s Kurds face ISIS threat, US indifference as Turkey destroys critical infrastructure

Turkish strikes have left hundreds of thousands without water and electricity, as well as undermining security at prisons and detention centers where tens of thousands of Islamic State fighters and their families are being held.

Mazloum Kobane, commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), speaks during an interview in the countryside outside the northwestern Syrian city of Hasakah, in the province of the same name, on Jan. 24, 2019.

Interview

Syrian Kurdish commander says resolve of US-led anti-ISIS coalition weakening

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, SDF chief Mazlum Kobane said the conflict in Gaza has boosted ISIS and warned that the conditions exist for a "resurgence" of the group to its former strength.

Mazlum Kobane

Mazlum Kobane

SDF commander in chief

Workers tasked with putting out the fire in an oil well, set ablaze by retreating Islamic State (IS) jihadists, assemble a water pipeline in the town of Qayyarah.

Iraq plans to reopen own oil pipeline as talks to restart Kurdish route stall

The move to reopen the pipeline will irk the Kurdistan Regional Government, as it introduces a rival route to a section of the pipeline in Kurdistan that has been shut for a year and is a crucial economic source for the semi-autonomous region.

Supporters of the pro-Kurdish DEM Party.

Turkey’s pro-Kurdish party slams annulment of election victory in southeast

The move, which sparked violent protest in the southeastern province of Van, is widely seen as a fresh crackdown on the country's pro-Kurdish party by Turkish authorities.

A photograph taken on Oct. 22, 2011, shows a Turkish military helicopter flying over a mountain in Yemisli, in the Hakkari province

PKK kills Turkish soldier in northern Iraq as Ankara threatens major offensive

The militant group killed one Turkish soldier and wounded four others in northern Iraq, as Turkey threatened a major offensive to "annihilate" the Kurdish militant group by summer.

Relatives mourn over the caskets of 11 people killed in Turkish air strikes during their funeral in al-Malikiyah (Derik) in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province, on November 21, 2022. - Turkey hit dozens of targets in northern Syria as well as northern Iraq overnight into Sunday, a week after a deadly attack in Istanbul which Ankara has blamed on the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). (Photo by Gihad DARWISH / AFP) (Photo by GIHAD DARWISH/AFP via Getty Images)

Baghdad's PKK ban marks win-win for Iraq, Turkey but warning to Iran

The move could ease Turkey's military operations in northern Iraq while at the same allowing Baghdad to extend its presence and control over its territory.

Turkey’s Defense Minister Yasar Guler, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Ibrahim Kalin, head of the Turkish National Intelligence Agency, met in Ankara on March 11, 2024.

Three top Turkey officials to visit Iraq as Erdogan threatens Kurdish militants

The officials’ visit signals a fresh drive to dial up pressure on the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, which Ankara accuses of collaborating with Kurdish militants.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani meets with US national security advisor Jake Sullivan in Davos on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on Jan. 16, 2024.

Iraq’s Sudani faces US pressure to fix problems with Kurds ahead of Washington visit

Resolving ongoing disputes between Baghdad and Erbil is a matter of priority for Washington.