Turkish-Kurdish conflict

AMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey-France rivalry disrupts US-led mediation between Damascus, Syrian Kurds

Ankara is pressuring Damascus to cancel talks in Paris, fearing French support will tilt negotiations in favor of the Kurds, regional officials told Al-Monitor.

Turkish Foreign Ministry

Turkey’s Fidan visits Syria as Ankara pushes SDF to disarm: What to know

The top Turkish diplomat’s visit to Damascus comes as Ankara ramps up pressure for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces to lay down arms.

A fighter of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) aims a machine gun while lying prone during a joint military exercise with forces of the US-led "Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve" coalition against the Islamic State (IS) group in the countryside of the town of al-Malikiya (Derik in Kurdish) in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on Sept. 7, 2022.

Turkey turns up heat on SDF to disarm as US Syria envoy returns to Damascus

While Turkey demands that the SDF disarms, Washington is trying to revive stalled talks between Kurdish forces and the new Syrian government in Damascus.

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.

Senate defense spending bill would restrict US troop drawdown from Syria

Washington plans to zero out stipends for Iraqi Kurdistan’s peshmerga forces but will continue funding Iraq’s Counter-Terrorism Service and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces through 2026.

Jared Szuba

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

Latest News

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.

Analysis

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

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.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Analysis

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

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.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

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

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

Fidan Syria

Analysis

Turkey, alarmed by sectarian clashes, steps up Syria role, criticizes Iran

As last week’s bloody clashes in Syria have deepened divisions among Turkish experts over the country's future, Turkey’s priorities in Syria remain focused on countering the SDF and combating ISIS.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gestures as he addresses a speech during the Justice and Development Party (AKP), as part of the 8th Ordinary Grand Congress at the Ankara Arena in Ankara, on Feb. 23, 2025.

Turkey’s Erdogan says he's ready to meet with Kurds brokering peace with PKK

Erdogan's willingness to engage with Kurdish leaders signals a potential shift in Turkey's stalled peace process with the PKK after years of tension and setbacks.

Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) and SDF leader Mazloum Kobane sign an agreement in Damascus on March 10, 2025.

Analysis

Syria’s Kurds win big as Sharaa shakes hands with Kobane to save his own skin

The surprise deal between Syria’s interim president and the Kurdish leader marks a pivotal moment for the country’s Kurdish minority and shifts the balance of power amid escalating violence.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey’s defense chief says PKK ceasefire holds 'no significance'

The Turkish defense chief asserts that the Kurdistan Workers Party and all its offshoots must immediately dissolve, dismissing its unilateral ceasefire while Turkey continues targeting militants.

Israeli tank enters Syria buffer zone

Turkey accuses Israel of destabilizing region by driving wedge in Syria

Israel’s actions toward Syria's new interim regime risk fomenting further instability in the region, a Turkish official told Al-Monitor.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C) meets with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (R) in Tehran, on July 19, 2022.

Analysis

Iran spooked by Turkey’s overtures to Kurds, rising role in Syria, Iraq

Iran and Turkey’s regional rivalry deepens as Ankara moves to make peace with the Kurds and expands its influence in Syria and Iraq at Tehran’s expense.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Fidan and Araghchi

Iran, Turkey summon diplomats as tensions soar over Syria, Kurds: What to know

Turkish and Iranian tensions have intensified after the top Turkish diplomat criticized Tehran's use of proxy forces in an interview with Al-Jazeera Arabic last week.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during a joint press conference with Syria's Foreign Minister during a joint press conference, in Ankara on January 15, 2025. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

In rare rebuke of Iran, Turkey's Fidan calls its proxy strategy 'heavy burden'

The top Turkish diplomat criticized Iran's regional strategy and warned against aligning with Kurdish-led forces in Syria.

Kurdish men holds up a flag with a picture of the jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan during Newroz celebrations, on March 21, 2015, in Diyarbakir, Turkey

PKK leader Ocalan set to make historic peace call between Turkey and the Kurds

A delegation is expected to relay the militant leader's statement on Thursday, Al-Monitor has learned.

AFP via Getty Images

One Turkish soldier, 17 PKK militants killed in northern Iraq clashes

The killing of the Turkish soldier comes ahead of militant leader Abdullah Ocalan’s expected call to disarm the Kurdistan Workers Party.

Ocalan

Iraqi Kurds lend hand as PKK leader negotiates plan for peace with Turkey

Abdullah Ocalan is expected to urge his men to lay down their arms and end a more than 40-year insurgency against the Turkish state, capping talks launched in April last year between the rebel leader, PKK commanders and the Turkish government.

Sharaa Kobane

Analysis

Squeezed between Turkey and Sharaa, Syria's Kurds face stark choices

Syria’s Kurds risk losing autonomy amid Turkish opposition and uncertain US backing.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture