Kurds

Syrian Kurds lift placards and flags during a rally calling for an autonomous administration and Kurdish rights in Syria's predominantly Kurdish northeastern city of Qamishli, on Sept. 17, 2025.

Ankara: Jailed PKK chief favors unitary Syria, no separate Kurdish defense force

The militant leader called for “police-like” security units in Syrian Democratic Forces areas during his landmark meeting with a Turkish parliamentary delegation, according to a transcript summary.

KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani (R) and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (L) meet in Irbil on April 12, 2025.

Exclusive

Iraq's Kurds air fury over PM Sudani's stance after attack on gas field

“We were shocked at Sudani’s audacity. Imagine the state we would have been in had he gotten his way,” a senior Iraqi Kurdish official speaking not for attribution told Al-Monitor.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

People take part in a demonstration to call for the liberation of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan outside the European Council in Strasbourg, eastern France, on Sept. 15, 2025.

Analysis

PKK leader Ocalan gains legitimacy in Turkey, bigger sway over Syria’s Kurds

The ongoing deadlock between Damascus and the SDF is seen as a major obstacle to progress in Turkey’s efforts to address its long-standing Kurdish issue.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Sipan Hemo

Exclusive

SDF commander Hemo: Syria’s Kurds prepare for threat of war as Damascus talks falter

As US-brokered talks stall, Kurdish forces are preparing contingencies while continuing dialogue with Damascus to secure Syria’s future, SDF commander Sipan Hemo told Al-Monitor in an exclusive interview.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Latest News

Erdogan's top ally calls for release of Kurdish leader amid speculation of rift

A man holds a portrait of Selahattin Demirtas during a gathering of Turkish Kurds for Nowruz celebrations marking the New Year of the Persian calendar and the first day of spring, Diyarbakir, southeastern Turkey, March 21, 2025.

Syria’s Shibani says no concrete progress in integration talks with Kurds

DAMASCUS, SYRIA - DECEMBER 30: Syria's newly appointed Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani during a press conference after a meeting between the Syrian leadership and a Ukrainian delegation to help strengthen ties between the two countries on December 30, 2024 in Damascus, Syria. Syria is transitioning after the fall of the Baath regime and the Assad family's rule, with a temporary administration now in place in Damascus and Aleppo. (Photo by Ali Haj Suleiman/Getty Images)

Iraq's security chief visits Iran, steps up border and railway cooperation: What to know

Iraqi national security adviser Qasim al-Araji meets with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in Tehran, on Oct. 20, 2025.

Syria’s SDF releases detainees as 'goodwill' gesture after talks with Damascus

Mazloum Kobane, commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), speaks with AFP during an interview in the countryside outside the northwestern Syrian city of Hasakah, in the province of the same name, on Jan. 24, 2019.

Turkish President and leader of the Justice and Development Party Party Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkey’s parliament votes to extend mandate for troops in Iraq, Syria

The main opposition CHP announced an hour before the session that it would vote against the motion.

Judge Jalil Adnan Khalaf, chairman of Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission, speaks in Baghdad on Oct. 12, 2021.

Iraq's election results put militias between rock and hard place

Political parties affiliated with Iraqi militias faced significant defeat, while their ally Nouri al-Maliki earned a remarkable victory.

Turkish and Russian military vehicles patrol in the countryside of Rumaylan (Rmeilan) in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province near the Turkish border, on Sept. 16, 2021.

Ankara hints at new Syria operation after spate of attacks near border

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the nation “would do what is necessary” to clear Syrian border areas of Kurdish militants after missile attacks killed two Turkish police officers Sunday.

A Syrian man walks past destruction in the northern city of Aleppo on March 22, 2013.

Syrian opposition chief: US sanctions a deterrent for Turkish proxy fighters

During an interview with Al-Monitor, Syrian National Coalition President Salem al-Meslet discussed recent US sanctions on Ahrar al-Sharqiya, the human rights situation in northern Syria and the US military presence in the war-torn country.

KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP via Getty Images

Syrian Kurds, opposition take cases to Washington

Delegations from Kurdish-held northeast Syria and the Turkey-backed Syrian National Coalition will meet separately with US officials this week.

A picture taken on January 13, 2020, during a press tour organised by the US-led coalition fighting the remnants of the Islamic State group, shows a member the US forces walking past a drone in the Ain al-Asad airbase in the western Iraqi province of Anbar.

Are Iranian threats to escalate in Iraqi Kurdistan more hot air?

Members of the anti-Iranian group, the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan.

Iranian security official tells Iraq to expel Iranian Kurdish groups

Iranian officials have been criticizing Kurdish parties from Iran who have a presence in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, where they are regularly targeted by the Iranian military.

A flag of the Islamic State (IS) is seen on the other side of a bridge at the frontline of fighting between Kurdish peshmerga forces and Islamist militants in Rashad, on the road between Kirkuk and Tikrit, on Sept. 11, 2014.

Iraqi PM vows to fix Kirkuk security issues after gruesome Islamic State attack

Following an Islamic State attack in which over a dozen Iraqi policemen were killed, the prime minister criticized military leaders’ “shortcomings” and pledged to address the issue. Meanwhile, counterterrorism operations continue in the same disputed province to prevent further attacks.

Syrian Kurdish fighters walk carrying a People's Protection Units (YPG) yellow flag in the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobane.

Syrian Kurdish parties feel abandoned by US in wake of Turkish-backed attack

Turkey stepped up its attacks against Kurds in Syria, which raised concerns among the Kurdish forces over the US and Russian roles.

An Iranian Kurdish peshmerga member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) sprays red paint on holes in a wall made by shrapnel from a rocket attack days earlier.

Iranian commander warns Iraqi Kurdish government about harboring opposition

The IRGC's rare warning has fueled fears about civilian casualties in the Kurdish villages stretching on the Iran-Iraq border.

ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Turkish opposition courts Kurds in trip to Erbil

The Republican People’s Party, Turkey’s main opposition party, has sent a senior delegation to Iraq's Kurdistan Region, perhaps because popular elections have become difficult to win without Kurdish votes.

Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan (L) shakes hands with Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan before a meeting in Ankara on Feb. 28, 2012.

Iraqi Kurdish leader helps ease Turkey-UAE tensions

Iraqi Kurdistan President Nechirvan Barzani helped facilitate a recent phone call between Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.