Turkish-Kurdish conflict

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

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.

Analysis

How Azerbaijan benefits — and risks losing — from Iran war

Azerbaijan is cashing in on soaring oil prices and Israeli demand, but risks Iranian retaliation, pipeline attacks and regional blowback if the war escalates.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

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

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

As Iraq looks to reroute oil to Turkey, Baghdad is also using the plan to push the Iraqi Kurds to greenlight exports through their territory.

Ali IHSAN OZTURK / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

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

Even as war heighten tensions between Ankara and Tehran, the mix of rivalry and pragmatic cooperation that has long defined Turkey–Iran relations is likely to endure.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Latest News

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

Feature

After SDF-Damascus truce, is Kurdish haven still safe for Syria's Alawites?

Members of People's Defense Units (YPG) stand guard as Syrian government internal security personnel enter the northeastern city of Hasakeh, a Kurdish stronghold, on Feb. 2, 2026.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Analysis

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

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

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Interview

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

Siyamend Ali

Siyamend Ali

Siyamend Ali

YPG spokesman

Turkey protest

Turkish police arrest alleged members of far-left organization

Lawyers have accused Turkish authorities of unjustly detaining people for alleged Revolutionary Peoples’ Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) links.

DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey's war of attrition against Syria's Kurds

Alongside shelling and drones, Turkey is weaponizing water supplies in northeast Syria, turning an already horrible situation into a nightmare

Mazlum Kobane (Mazlum Abdi), commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces.

Syrian Kurdish commander says Russia opposes further Turkish land grabs

Mazlum Kobane, commander in chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces, also says Damascus is not yet ready for negotiations.

ILYAS AKENGIN/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey’s Kurds revive fight for language rights

Many Kurdish groups have joined forces to promote the Kurdish language and press Ankara for greater language rights.

A displaced Yazidi casts her vote for the parliamentary elections at a camp some 15 kilometers from the northern city of Dahuk in the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region, on Oct. 8, 2021.

Iraq's elections weaken PKK in Sinjar

Iraq's October elections may have strengthened the Iraqi Kurdistan administration's hands in the Yazidi enclave of Sinjar.

US President Joe Biden (R) speaks with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

With F-16 deal in limbo, Erdogan-Biden meeting postponed to Glasgow

Following a diplomatic row this week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters Tuesday he would seek to confirm a divisive F-16 deal with US counterpart Joe Biden at the COP26 conference in Glasgow.

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.

A member of security of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stands guard in the countryside of the Hasakah province, on June 27, 2020.

Turkey tells Syrian opposition forces to increase military readiness

The timing and extent of the anticipated operation against Syrian Kurdish forces are still uncertain and will likely depend on Ankara’s weighing of tradeoffs with Washington and Moscow.

A Syrian fighter with Turkey-backed forces is pictured on a road between the northern Syrian towns of Tell Abyad and Kobani on October 22, 2019.

Suspected Turkish drone strike targets three people in Syrian Kurdish town

Turkey's latest strike comes on the four-year anniversary of the Kurdish fighters' capture of Raqqa from the Islamic State.

Members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) attend the funeral of an Arab fighter.

Ankara-backed Syrian forces 'fully prepared' for Turkish operation

Turkey has threatened to launch a military operation against the SDF in the wake of attacks carried out by the latter in north Syria.

Leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP) Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

Will Turkey’s opposition blow golden opportunity to beat Erdogan?

Opposition head Kemal Kilicdaroglu accuses Turkish government of "mafialike" activities.

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.

Erdogan’s latest threats in Syria test limits with Biden, Putin

The Turkish president’s warnings are targeted as much at Washington and Moscow as they are at Syria’s Kurds.