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.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a joint news conference with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani (not seen) after their meeting in Ankara, Turkey, December 20, 2018. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RC1B8B154360

Win for Erdogan, betrayal for the Kurds

With Trump's decision to withdraw US troops from Syria, Turkey was handed a victory over the Kurds.

Will US exit from Syria change terrain of Turkey's road map?

President Donald Trump's abrupt announcement that he will pull US troops out of Syria has Turkey reassessing the situation.

A man gestures at U.S military vehicles driving in the town of Darbasiya next to the Turkish border, Syria April 28, 2017. REUTERS/Rodi Said TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RC15AC3FC730

US Syria pullout may be more than Turkey asked for

The haste with which President Donald Trump appears to be dumping the Americans’ Syrian Kurdish allies is not necessarily what Turkey’s president had hoped for and will likely pose new problems for Ankara.

U.S. President Donald Trump, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are seen at the start of the NATO summit in Brussels, Belgium July 11, 2018. REUTERS/Reinhard Krause - RC1C67E741D0

Is Erdogan’s brinkmanship forcing Washington to climb down?

Ankara is pleased with Trump’s decision to pull out of Syria, but it greets this decision with a mixture of caution and skepticism.

U.S. and Turkish soldiers conduct the first-ever combined joint patrol outside Manbij, Syria, November 1, 2018. Picture taken November 1, 2018. Courtesy Arnada Jones/U.S. Army/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC17C4EA11D0

US diplomats shaken by Trump decision to exit Syria

US President Donald Trump’s abrupt decision to withdraw from Syria humiliates US envoys who have said the United States would maintain a presence indefinitely to prevent the return of the Islamic State and to counter Iran’s influence.

U.S. forces set up a new base in Manbij, Syria May 8, 2018. Picture Taken May 8, 2018. REUTERS/Rodi Said - RC1504520BB0

US to withdraw from Syria, leaving Kurdish allies to face Turkish offensive alone

President Donald Trump tweeted that the war against Islamic State is over and his administration has confirmed American soldiers would leave Syria immediately, a significant diplomatic win for Turkey that follows US approval of a major weapons deal with Ankara.

A general view shows Turkish flags fluttering at a military post in the village of Ashma in the Kurdish region of Kobane in northern Syria on November 8, 2018. - In recent days, cross-border Turkish artillery fire has targeted positions held by the People's Protection Units (YPG), the main Kurdish militia in Syria. Ankara sees the de-facto autonomous rule set up by Syrian Kurds as an encouragement to the separatists of the Turkey-based Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has close ties to the YPG. (Photo

US official speaks out against possible Turkish offensive in Syria

After Iraqi Kurdistan-backed Rojava Peshmerga are sent to the Turkish-Syrian border, Turkish officials inveigh against the action and what it represents.

Turkish soldiers ride on a military vehicle in the center of Afrin, Syria March 24, 2018. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi - RC1B6933DB00

How does Turkey's threatened Syria invasion play elsewhere?

As Turkey prepares for a possible offensive against Kurdish militias in Syria, Moscow is watching for any mistakes that multiple players, including the Unites States and the United Arab Emirates, might make in their efforts to deter the operation.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Yazidi activist Nadia Murad gestures while talking to people during her visit to Sinjar, Iraq December 14, 2018. REUTERS/Ari Jalal - RC19D80529C0

Sinjar road reconnects estranged Yazidis and Kurds with Baghdad

The opening of a strategic road in Iraq's Kurdistan Region — closed since the Kurds' ill-fated independence referendum in September 2017 — could be a prelude to a reset in ties between Erbil and Baghdad.

Syrian people look on behind an olive tree branch as they arrive at a check point in the village of Anab ahead of crossing to the Turkish-backed Syrian rebels side on March 17, 2018, as civilians flee the city of Afrin in northern Syria.
More than 200,000 civilians have fled the city of Afrin in northern Syria in less than three days to escape a Turkish-led military offensive against a Kurdish militia, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. / AFP PHOTO / BULENT KILIC (Photo credit should read

Turkey's 'Olive Branch' takes root in Syrian olive business

Kurdish olive growers in Afrin, Syria, complain bitterly that Turkish authorities who control the area aren't doing anything to stop massive exploitation and armed extortion that is costing the local oil economy $100 million.

A Turkish military tank is seen near Mount Barsaya, northeast of Afrin, Syria January 23, 2018. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi - RC17EC8A27B0

Erdogan says Turkish troops to march into northeast Syria

Some experts think Erdogan's threat to send troops into northeast Syria is a trial balloon that has more to do with Turkey's March 31 local elections than anything else, but others take his statements more seriously.

Kurdish demonstrators hold flags during a protest demanding the release of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan, in Sulaimaniyah, Iraq February 16, 2018. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed - RC1EA9AA5C90

Iraqi Kurdistan bans pro-PKK party amid Turkish pressure

Turkey exerted its political and economic pressure on Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government to close the headquarters of political parties that share the ideology of the Kurdistan Workers Party.