Turkish-Kurdish conflict

Members of Iraq's security forces stand guard on the the al-Rabia border crossing with Syria on April 20, 2026.

How Syria's border opening with Iraq redefines Turkey-Kurd balance

After years of closure, the reopening of al-Yaaroubiya crossing is redrawing Kurdish economic leverage and reinforcing Turkey’s regional strategy.

Kurdish people waving Kurdistan flags gather to celebrate Nowruz on the hill of Urkesh in the countryside of Amuda in northeastern Syria on March 18, 2026. Nowruz, meaning "new day," is an ancient festival that marks the start of spring and the new year on the vernal equinox, which usually falls on March 20 or 21. It is celebrated by more than 300 million people worldwide and has been observed for over 3,000 years across regions including the Middle East, Central Asia, the Caucasus and parts of Eastern Euro

Analysis

Is Syria’s Sharaa poised to outdo Turkey in formalizing gains for Kurds?

Damascus is making limited but tangible progress in its engagement with Syrian Kurds, even as Ankara seeks to shape the terms of any settlement.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) walks with Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif upon his arrival during an official ceremony at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, Turkey on June 1, 2022. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Inside Turkey’s role in the US-Iran ceasefire

Turkey used its intelligence networks and rare access to both Washington and Tehran to quietly facilitate the US-Iran ceasefire while advancing its own regional security priorities.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks to MPs at his party's group meeting in the Turkish parliament on Jan. 21, 2026 in Ankara, Turkey.

Analysis

How the Iran war is giving Turkey's Erdogan a big boost

Opinion polls show Turks turning to Erdogan as a steady hand during the war, even as the country's finances remain fragile.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Latest News

Analysis

How Azerbaijan benefits — and risks losing — from Iran war

Bibi Heybat mosque is seen in front of Bibi Heybat Oil Field, situated at the coast of the Caspian Sea outside Baku on March 19, 2019.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Desperate to sell its oil, Iraq turns to Turkey amid standoff with Kurds

An Iraqi oil tanker waits at the Khawr Abd Allah canal leading up to Al-Faw port in southern Iraq, on June 6, 2024.

Analysis

No strangers to turmoil, Turkey-Iran to maintain ties under Mojtaba Khamenei

Ali IHSAN OZTURK / AFP via Getty Images

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Analysis

Could Kurds be Trump's lever in Iran regime-change scenarios?

Protesters hold a banner reading "Come and weave resistance together" and "Women, life, freedom."

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images

US downs Turkish drone as Turkey bombs infrastructure in Syria’s Kurdish zone

The reports came as Turkish forces pounded strategic economic installations today in the Kurdish-run zone, including oil installations and power stations.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan looks on during a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the 78th United Nations General Assembly at the Lotte Palace Hotel in New York on September 22, 2023. (Photo by BING GUAN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by BING GUAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey's Fidan declares all PKK, YPG facilities in Syria, Iraq 'legitimate targets'

High-level and open threats by Turkey have ramped up fears of a fresh escalation in northern Syria between Turkish forces and Syrian Kurdish groups that Ankara deems terrorists.

A security forces member looks on during the burial of one of three Kurdish counterterrorism officers killed the previous day in a strike by a drone that had reportedly originated in Turkey, in the city of Sulaimaniyah in the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq on September 19, 2023. A senior military official in Baghdad said on September 19 that three members of the counterterrorism forces of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region were killed and three wounded in the strike on Arbat airfield, southeast of

Turkey expands crackdown, airstrikes against PKK as Erdogan lashes out at West

The Turkish Defense Ministry said 16 new targets, including caves, bunkers and warehouses in the northern Iraqi regions of Metina, Hakurk, Gara, Qandil and Assos, were destroyed in the strikes.

Police presence after the attack in Ankara, Turkey.

PKK claims bomb attack in Turkey’s capital that injured 2 police officers

The attack happened just as the parliament returned from recess and was expected to take on Sweden’s NATO bid.

.S. Sen. Robert Menendez spoke during the rally to commemorate the 1915 Turkish massacre of Armenians in Times Square April 26, 2015 in New York City. The rally marks 100 years since the Ottoman government began its systematic extermination of Armenian peoples from their homeland in what is present-day Turkey. (Photo by Kevin Hagen/Getty Images)

Turkey gloats at Menendez indictment but will it get F-16 jets?

Sen. Bob Menendez, a strong critic of Turkey who heads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has been charged for allegedly receiving bribes via a scheme involving Egypt.

Kirkuk

Explainer: Why Iraq's Kirkuk has reached brink of conflict

Tensions flare up in Kirkuk ahead of provincial elections in December amid Arab and Turkmen fears of renewed Kurdish control of the oil-rich city.

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA - MAY 25: Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon May 25, 2023 in Arlington, Virginia. Milley and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin briefed members of the press following an online session of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

US top general talks Syria, NATO with new Turkey counterpart

Gen. Mark Milley's first announced call with newly appointed Turkish armed forces chief Metin Gurak follows reports that the United States is exploring alternate routes for Ukraine's grain exports.

Syrian Arab fighters on the Turkish-held outskirts of Manbij, in northwestern Syria, during fighting against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on September 4, 2023

Kurds, pro-Turk forces fight in north Syria after 90 killed

Agence France-Presse

Troops from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) special operations.

Turkey's Erdogan eggs on Syria's Arab tribes against US-backed Kurds

Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria "poses a threat to its national security."

An Iranian Kurdish peshmerga member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI).

Iran renews ultimatum for Iraq to disarm Kurdish opposition groups

A September deadline set to disarm the groups will “not be extended in any way.”

Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein (R) poses with Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Baghdad on Aug. 22, 2023.

Turkey’s FM tackles long-held disputes with Iraq in first official visit

Hakan Fidan chose Iraq for his first official visit as Turkey's new foreign minister, but the visit appeared to yield little progress on long-standing disputes between Ankara and Baghdad.

Newly appointed Minister of National Defense Yasar Guler speaks during his handover ceremony at the Ministry of National Defense, Ankara, Turkey, June 5, 2023.

Turkey dismisses Assad’s tirade, says withdrawal from Syria 'unimaginable' now

Turkey's defense minister says withdrawal of Turkish troops from Syria would be "unimaginable" before his country’s national security concerns are addressed.