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)

Turkey-backed Syrian fighters man a sand barricade near the rebel-controlled town of Tal Abyad in the northern Syria's Raqa province, along the frontline with Syrian Kurdish forces controling the Kurdish-majority city of Kobani, on October 10, 2020. (Photo by Bakr ALKASEM / AFP) (Photo by BAKR ALKASEM/AFP via Getty Images)

Erdogan warns Turkey has 'right to mobilize' again against Kurdish forces

The Turkish president's comments come a year after Turkey launched an offensive against Kurdish fighters in northeast Syria.

Will Russia recruit Syrian Kurds to fight in Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict?

While Russia will likely avoid direct involvement in the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, there are signs it could draw lessons from Libya and recruit fighters from Syria to do its bidding.

Why can't Iraqis agree on national day holiday?

Seventeen years after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, Iraq has neither a national day nor a national anthem.

Journalists are pictured in the newsroom of Nalia Radio and Television (NRT) in Sulaimaniyah city, in the Kurdish autonomous region of northern Iraq on August 22, 2020. - Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq are escalating their crackdown on media outlets covering anti-government protests, journalists and rights defenders told AFP, shattering the region's reputation as a liberal refuge. (Photo by Shwan MOHAMMED / AFP) (Photo by SHWAN MOHAMMED/AFP via Getty Images)

Kurdish news outlet linked to opposition party remains closed in Iraq

The Kurdistan Regional Government says NRT's coverage of protests encouraged people to violate anti-coronavirus measures, but journalists say the closure is a violation of press freedom.

A Turkish-Russian military convoy tows a damaged vehicle after its joint patrol was reportedly targeted on the strategic M4 highway, near the Syrian town of Urum al-Jawz in the south of the northwestern Idlib province, on August 25, 2020. - Russia and Turkey launched joint patrols along the M4 highway in March following a ceasefire agreement aimed at stopping heavy fighting in and around Idlib, the last major bastion of anti-government forces in Syria's civil war. (Photo by Abdulaziz KETAZ / AFP) (Photo by

Russia's outreach to Syrian Kurds highlights dual-track approach

While Russia blames the United States for adding fuel to the fire of Kurdish separatism, it calls on the Syrian Kurds to lay the groundwork for constitutional reform, so as to contain conflict in the territories over which Damascus has long lost control.

Intel: Turkey orders arrest of pro-Kurdish politicians over 2014 Kobani protests

Iraqi tourists walk past the Sherwana Citadel in the Kurdish city of Kalar, 126 kms south of Sulaimaniya, on September 27, 2015. AFP PHOTO / SAFIN HAMED (Photo credit should read SAFIN HAMED/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran’s shadow looms large over southeastern Iraqi Kurdistan

The recent bust of a major fraud and smuggling network at one of Iraqi Kurdistan's border crossings has drawn attention to the power wielded by Iran in that area, both on the local economy and on local water supplies due to dams built in recent years.

High unemployment forces Iranian Kurds into smuggling, with deadly consequences

A new wave of deadly violence targeting Iranian Kurdish smugglers in the country's mountainous border region has renewed focus on decades-long state neglect of the minority group.

President of the Kurdistan Regional government (IKRG) President Nechirvan Barzani speaks during a bilateral meeting with US President Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January 22, 2020. (Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Iraqi Kurdistan president carries conciliatory message from Baghdad to Ankara

Iraqi Kurdistan President Nechirvan Barzani carried a conciliatory message from Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi to Ankara.

Who is behind wave of killings of tribal sheikhs in east Syria?

Syria's eastern province of Deir ez-Zor sees escalating tensions between Arab tribes and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

President of Iraq's Kurdistan Region Nechirvan Barzani (R) attends a press conference with Iranian Foreign Minister in Arbil, the regional capital in northern Iraq, on July 19, 2020. (Photo by SAFIN HAMED / AFP) (Photo by SAFIN HAMED/AFP via Getty Images)

Iraqi Kurdistan president leaves Ankara talks with two Yazidi children

A senior Iraqi Kurdistan official told Al-Monitor that the talks with Ankara were “really good," and the delegation had brought two Yazidi children back with them on the plane.

Pro Kurdish supporters march by Austrian Parliament as approximately 2000 thousand people attended a protest in Vienna on October 10, 2014 to show solidarity for Syrian Kurds who are fighting to defend the Syrian-Turkey border town of Kobane from Islamic State (Isis) militants. AFP PHOTO / JOE KLAMAR (Photo credit should read JOE KLAMAR/AFP via Getty Images)

Austria says Turkish spy caught amid probe into Turkish-Kurdish clashes

Austria will prosecute an individual who reportedly confessed to spying on behalf of Turkey.