Kurds

Iraqi President Barham Salih meets with UK Prime Minister, Theresa May (unseen), on June 25, 2019, in London, England.

Barham Salih slated to become first Kurd and Iraqi to lead UNHCR

Barham Salih — former Iraqi president of Iraq and widely respected politician in Washington — has been formally nominated to become the next UN high commissioner for refugees.

Syrian Kurds, fleeing from north of Aleppo, arrive in Tabqa, on the western outskirts of Raqa, on Dec. 4, 2024.

Feature

Kurds from Syria's Afrin languish in camps as Sharaa, SDF remain unreconciled

One year after Assad’s fall, displaced Kurds from Afrin remain in camps such as Azadi, facing harsh conditions, property disputes and an uncertain future amid stalled talks with Damascus and ongoing Turkish-backed faction activity.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Syrian Kurds lift placards and flags during a rally calling for an autonomous administration and Kurdish rights in Syria's predominantly Kurdish northeastern city of Qamishli, on Sept. 17, 2025.

Ankara: Jailed PKK chief favors unitary Syria, no separate Kurdish defense force

The militant leader called for “police-like” security units in Syrian Democratic Forces areas during his landmark meeting with a Turkish parliamentary delegation, according to a transcript summary.

KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani (R) and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (L) meet in Irbil on April 12, 2025.

Exclusive

Iraq's Kurds air fury over PM Sudani's stance after attack on gas field

“We were shocked at Sudani’s audacity. Imagine the state we would have been in had he gotten his way,” a senior Iraqi Kurdish official speaking not for attribution told Al-Monitor.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Latest News

Analysis

PKK leader Ocalan gains legitimacy in Turkey, bigger sway over Syria’s Kurds

People take part in a demonstration to call for the liberation of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan outside the European Council in Strasbourg, eastern France, on Sept. 15, 2025.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Exclusive

SDF commander Hemo: Syria’s Kurds prepare for threat of war as Damascus talks falter

Sipan Hemo

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Erdogan's top ally calls for release of Kurdish leader amid speculation of rift

A man holds a portrait of Selahattin Demirtas during a gathering of Turkish Kurds for Nowruz celebrations marking the New Year of the Persian calendar and the first day of spring, Diyarbakir, southeastern Turkey, March 21, 2025.

Syria’s Shibani says no concrete progress in integration talks with Kurds

DAMASCUS, SYRIA - DECEMBER 30: Syria's newly appointed Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani during a press conference after a meeting between the Syrian leadership and a Ukrainian delegation to help strengthen ties between the two countries on December 30, 2024 in Damascus, Syria. Syria is transitioning after the fall of the Baath regime and the Assad family's rule, with a temporary administration now in place in Damascus and Aleppo. (Photo by Ali Haj Suleiman/Getty Images)

Children are pictured in the northern city of Raqqa, the former Syrian capital of the Islamic State, on Dec. 19, 2021.

Kurdish leaders say poverty 'biggest threat,' driving Syrians into arms of IS

Offers of money by the Islamic State to join its ranks prove "irresistible" to those hit hard by Syria's collapsed economy.

A resident reacts as she walks down a debris-filled street in the area of Daratu, on the outskirts of Erbil, after flash floods caused by torrential rains left eight people dead, Iraqi Kurdistan, Dec. 17, 2021.

Floods hit Kurdistan region as drought leaves many Iraqis in need

Parts of northern Iraq have been hit by flooding after a year marked by drought, which many say is due to climate change likely to worsen in the coming years.

Iraqi riot police protect the Turkish Embassy in Baghdad after calls on social media to gather outside the embassy to protest Turkey's vows to invade the northwestern enclave of Sinjar, Iraq, Feb. 18, 2021.

Turkey targets PKK-linked Yazidis inside Iraq

A local Yazidi armed group linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party and affiliated with the government-incorporated Popular Mobilization Units has been targeted as part of stepped-up Turkish cross-border operations.

Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga fighters pose for a photo next to a military vehicle bearing the Kurdish flag after they reportedly captured several villages from the Islamic State in the district of Daquq on Sept. 11, 2015.

Jihadis from Syria blamed for multiple attacks on Iraqi Kurds

An onslaught of attacks on Kurdish peshmerga forces and villages in northern Iraq has sparked concerns over the presence of Islamic State cells and whether they have been bulked up by jihadis arriving from Syria.

Pro-Kurdish lawmaker Leyla Zana is embraced by lawmaker Aysel Tugluk (R) as she arrives at the parliament in Ankara on Oct. 1, 2011.

Kurdish politician's plight highlights Turkey's indifference to critically ill inmates

Aysel Tugluk, who defended PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in his trial decades ago, is now suffering from advanced dementia behind bars, despite widespread calls for her release.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi visited Liheban in the Makhmour district on Dec. 8, 2021.

Iraqi prime minister visits site of Islamic State attack

Mustafa al-Kadhimi met with Kurdistan Region security forces in disputed Makhmour.

Turkey protest

Turkish police arrest alleged members of far-left organization

Lawyers have accused Turkish authorities of unjustly detaining people for alleged Revolutionary Peoples’ Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) links.

Mourners on Oct. 27, 2021, surround caskets of victims of yesterday's IS attack on the village of Al-Rashad in Iraq's eastern Diyala province.

Islamic State targets peshmerga in Iraq’s disputed Diyala and Makhmour

A recent string of attacks on Iraq’s Kurdistan Region peshmerga forces have raised concern over how effective long-discussed coordination with the central government is in the country’s flashpoint disputed territories.

Peshmerga fighters hold a position behind sandbags at a post in the strategic Jalawla area, in Diyala province, which is a gateway to Baghdad, as battles with the Islamic State continue, Sept. 27, 2014.

Islamic State carries out another attack on Iraqi Kurdish forces

The Islamic State has attacked the security forces in Iraqi Kurdistan in recent days.

Muqtada al-Sadr, Iraqi militia leader and Shiite Muslim cleric, gives a news conference in the central holy shrine city of Najaf, on Nov. 18, 2021.

Shiite leaders gather in Baghdad to break political deadlock

In order to break the political deadlock resulting from Iraq's recent elections, Shiite leaders gathered to find a solution to forming the next government.

Iraqi migrants who were flown home from the Belarusian capital Minsk, arrive at the airport in Arbil, the capital of Iraq's northern autonomous Kurdish region, on Nov. 26, 2021.

Iraq repatriates more citizens from Belarus

The Kurdistan Regional Government previously reported that it had helped bring more than 1,800 people home from the Belarus-Poland border.

US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm speaks during the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) General Conference.

The Takeaway: Iran nuclear talks resume next week — What you need to know

Turkish lira crisis hits Syria; Saudi, Syrian intel chiefs talk; Netflix drama evokes memories for Izmir’s Jews; Oman bets on logistics; Egypt, Tanzania deepen ties; Gaza’s women skateboarders — all in less than 1,500 words.

Andrew Parasiliti

Elizabeth Hagedorn

Joe Snell

By Andrew Parasiliti , Elizabeth Hagedorn , Joe Snell