Turkish-Kurdish conflict

Kurdish security forces patrol the street on Jan. 23, 2026 in Qamishli, Syria.

Analysis

Kurds, Damascus step back from brink as SDF signs fresh deal with Syrian government

After intense US-led diplomacy, Syria’s interim government and the Kurdish-led SDF agreed to a ceasefire and phased integration, averting all-out conflict.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Siyamend Ali

Interview

YPG spokesman: Syrian forces' strategy is to isolate Kurdish towns and cities

In an interview with Al-Monitor, YPG spokesman Siyamend Ali said Kurdish forces were successfully repelling advances by the Syrian army, while Damascus accused the Kurds of launching unprovoked attacks.

Siyamend Ali

Siyamend Ali

YPG spokesman

A woman with braided hair during a solidarity demonstration in Erbil, Iraq's Kurdistan region, on Jan. 23, 2026.

Turkey detains nurse over hair-braiding video in support of SDF

Authorities say the nurse’s social media post amounted to terror propaganda, while critics argue that her symbolic protest falls under freedom of expression as tensions over Syria spill into Turkey’s fragile peace process.

Turkish Foreign Ministery Press Service / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Turkey’s Syria gains come with risks as Damascus pushes Kurdish integration

Turkey has benefited from the Syrian government’s rollback of the Kurdish-led forces, but whether those gains translate into lasting security, refugee returns and domestic de-escalation will depend on political inclusion in Damascus.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Latest News

Analysis

Could US shift on Syria’s Kurds unlock progress with Turkey?

Syrian government forces ride on the roof of a vehicle as they deploy after crossing the Euphrates River in the province of Deir Ezzor, eastern Syria, on Jan. 19, 2026.

Ezgi Akin

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Trump praises Syria's Sharaa after truce reached with SDF

President Donald Trump takes questions from the media during a press briefing on Jan. 20, 2026, in Washington.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Syria’s Kurds accept sweetened ceasefire deal as US envoy Barrack declares SDF obsolete

Soldiers walk past a parked car as Syrian government forces make their way to the city of Hasakeh in northeastern Syria on Jan. 20, 2026.

Erdogan welcomes Syria-SDF agreement, urges full implementation

DAMASCUS, SYRIA - JANUARY 18: Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa signs a ceasefire agreement with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on January 18, 2026 in Damascus, Syria. According to Syrian state media, the deal includes a handover of Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa governates into government control, and the full integration of SDF fighters into state institutions. It follows the government's recent push towards the key city of Raqqa, after SDF fighters withdrew from Aleppo amid deadly clashes over the

Pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) lawmakers hold a sit-in to protest against detention of lawmakers, outside the Constitutional Court in Ankara, Turkey June 16, 2017. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RC16564D3C40

Ankara sit-in demands justice for pro-Kurdish bloc

Kurdish politicians are staging peaceful sit-in outside Ankara's Constitutional Court to protest the rampant jailing of pro-Kurdish lawmakers and politicians.

Developing PKK kidnapping story concerns KRG officials

As new details paint a much more intricate picture of the Turkish spy incident in Iraqi Kurdistan, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)'s operations there threaten to complicate the job of the Kurdistan Regional Government.

The son of senior Hamas militant Mazen Fuqaha sits on the shoulders of Hamas Gaza Chief Yehya Al-Sinwar during a memorial service for Fuqaha, in Gaza City March 27, 2017. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RC1570813F60

Iran plays Hamas card

Iran's improved relations with Turkey, Qatar and Hamas send a message to the region.

Rebel fighters ride a military vehicle on the outskirts of Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) controlled Tell Rifaat town, northern Aleppo province, Syria October 22, 2016. Picture taken October 22, 2016. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi - S1AEUIPWQCAB

Turkish-backed rebels exchange daily fire with SDF in Aleppo

In the northern countryside of Aleppo, the Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Arab and Kurdish fighters, retaliates to the shelling from Turkish-backed Syrian rebels, pushing civilians to leave their homes.

Supporters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) hold and wave political posters and flags in Sulaimaniya, 260 km (160 miles) northeast of Baghdad July 9, 2009. Iraqi Kurds going to the polls this month are losing interest in age-old battles with Baghdad over land or oil, and starting to care more about corruption plaguing their largely autonomous northern region. Picture taken July 9, 2009. REUTERS/Tim Cokcs (IRAQ POLITICS ELECTIONS CONFLICT) - GM1E57E1QWK01

Why did Turkey expel Iraqi Kurdish leader?

Turkey abruptly shut down the office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which had been in Ankara since the 1990s, following the PKK's reported abduction of Turkish intelligence agents in an area under PUK control.

Members of the Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS), a militia affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), sit with an Arab tribal fighter (L) in a house in the village of Umm al-Dhiban, northern Iraq, April 30, 2016. They share little more than an enemy and struggle to communicate on the battlefield, but together two relatively obscure groups have opened up a new front against Islamic State militants in a remote corner of Iraq. The unlikely alliance between the Sinjar Resistance Units, an offshoot of a le

Turkish silence speaks volumes as PKK points to spy ring

A pro-Kurdistan Workers Party news agency has reported that two Turkish nationals arrested in Iraqi Kurdistan had reported to Turkish intelligence and planned to abduct or assassinate senior PKK figures.