Turkish-Kurdish conflict

Kurds wave Kurdistan Workers' Party flags (PKK) and flags depicting Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan, during a demonstration to call for Ocalan's liberation outside the European Council in Strasbourg, eastern France, on Sept. 15, 2025.

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PKK leader Ocalan appeals to Iraqi Kurdistan president for help in Turkey peace talks

In a letter shared exclusively with Al-Monitor, the jailed PKK leader asks Barzani to help advance negotiations aimed at ending decades of conflict with Turkey.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Turkey, Syria hold high-level security summit as SDF integration talks ramp up

The summit comes as Turkey and Syria coordinate over the future of the Kurdish-led SDF, amid US mediation efforts to meet the year-end integration deadline with Damascus.

A man walks past a mural depicting supporters of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), one of them raising a flag showing the face of Abdullah Ocalan — founding member of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) outlawed by Turkey, in Syria's northeastern city of Qamishli on Dec. 16, 2024.

Turkey wants PKK leader Ocalan to sway Kurdish-led SDF on joining Syria army

Ankara seeks to leverage peace talks with PKK while renewing threats against the SDF.

Manifest

Culture

Turkey's women, LGBTQ artists top targets of Erdogan's drive for cultural hegemony

From pop stars to performers, Turkey’s secular arts scene faces increasing pressure under Erdogan’s conservative push.

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From F-35s to Ukraine: Erdogan-Trump talks signal reset, but sanctions obstacles remain

US President Donald Trump (L) greets Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) upon his arrival at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 25, 2025.

Turkey’s Erdogan eyes F-35s, Kurdish concessions in White House talks with Trump

President Donald Trump (R) speaks with President of the Republic of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L), as they arrive for the North Atlantic Council Plenary Session on the second day of the 2025 NATO Summit on June 25, 2025 in The Hague, Netherlands.

UK’s top spy uses farewell from Turkey to lure Russian recruits, sparks fury

Richard Moore

UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen steps down after six years

UN Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Otto Pedersen addresses a press conference in Damascus on Jan. 22, 2025.

U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attend the Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons annual meeting at the White House in Washington, U.S., October 11, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst - RC112D918F90

Rival fiefdoms emerge in scramble over Trump's Syria withdrawal

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton have offered different messages about President Donald Trump’s intentions for a Syria withdrawal.

Turkish-backed Syrian rebels stand with their weapons at Manbij countryside, Syria December 29, 2018. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi - RC1C44664B70

Turkish battle plan for Syria shaky despite Trump's promised pullout

Turkey's initial satisfaction over the United States' abrupt Syria withdrawal announcement is being tempered by doubts over Washington’s true intentions and awareness of the obstacles that still remain to a Turkish incursion.

Turkish general Ismail Metin Temel, the commander of the Second army and commander of Operation "Olive Branch" against YPG fighters in Afrin visits Mount Bersaya, north of the Syrian town of Azaz near the border with Turkey, on January 29, 2018.

The Turkish military on January 20 launched operation "Olive Branch", its second major incursion into Syrian territory during the seven-year civil war. The operation, with Turkish war planes and artillery backing a major ground incursion involving Ankara-backed Sy

Turkish army brass at odds over military operation in Syria

The Turkish government’s removal of two key commanders from active duty has revealed the discord in the Turkish military over the planned military operation east of the Euphrates River.

Protester Murat Yusa testifies before the House Foreign Affairs Europe, Eurasia and Emerging Threats Subcommittee about the attack on demonstrators by members of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's security detail on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S. May 25, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein - RC1E7F50C930

Lawsuit over Washington violence looms over US-Turkey relations

Kurdish protesters who were pummeled by President Erdogan’s security detail last year are seeking millions in damages in US federal court.

Ankara seeking Russian permission for use of Syrian airspace

Ankara’s primary lesson learned from its two operations in northern Syria is not to enter Syria without air superiority.

Russia, Turkey content with talks on Syria but fate of YPG still unclear

Russian and Turkish officials meet in Moscow following President Trump's decision to withdraw US forces from Syria, but make no public mention of what will happen in Manbij.

Turkish soldiers are seen at Manbij countryside, Syria December 28, 2018. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi - RC1E68749410

Turkey tests waters before next operation in Syria

Ankara will face numerous political and security risks if it moves too hastily in its pursuit of the YPG in Syria.

A member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) carries an automatic rifle on a road in the Qandil Mountains, the PKK headquarters in northern Iraq, on June 22, 2018. - Hundreds of Iraqi Kurds marched Friday to protest Turkish strikes against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) after Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara would press an operation against its bases. (Photo by SAFIN HAMED / AFP) (Photo credit should read SAFIN HAMED/AFP/Getty Images)

Ankara provokes Iraqi government with plans against PKK

Turkish airstrikes against pro-PKK groups in Iraq's Kurdistan put the Iraqi government in a difficult situation, as it cannot eject Kurdish militias or stop Turkish intervention.

A Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army fighter fires from a tank in Rajo, Syria March 3, 2018. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi - RC140AB204D0

Turkey sends top delegation to Russia to talk Syria

Ankara is looking to negotiate with Moscow over its proposed intervention in northern Syria.

Arbil, IRAQ: Kurdish refugee children play soccer at the Mahkmour Refugees Camp of Arbil 09 August 2005. Nearly 10 thousands refugees live at the temporary Makhmour Camp where migrating Kurds from Turkey settled from 1990 till 1995. This camp is under the control of BM and PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party). AFP PHOTO/MUSTAFA OZER (Photo credit should read MUSTAFA OZER/AFP/Getty Images)

Why Turkey's Kurdish strategy will remain ineffective

While making moves to crush the Kurds’ de facto self-rule in northern Syria, Turkey has targeted also the Makhmour refugee camp in Iraq, which, ironically, holds a mirror to Ankara’s failed Kurdish policies over the years.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks withh Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan ahead of the opening ceremony of the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) summit, at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, July 11, 2018. Ludovic Marin/Pool via REUTERS - RC19136AAEC0

Trump buries the hatchet with Erdogan over Syria

The US troop withdrawal could also lead to a return of the 'art of the deal' with Putin.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu leave a commemoration ceremony for Armistice Day, 100 years after the end of the First World War, at the Arc de Triomphe, in Paris, France, November 11, 2018. Ludovic Marin/Pool via REUTERS - RC14BD6A5800

Erdogan gets his wish from Trump in Syria, but now what?

Ankara fears that US President Donald Trump’s sudden decision to exit Syria could become a pyrrhic victory, as four main concerns could widen security vulnerabilities and trouble Turkey's president domestically.