Turkish-Kurdish conflict

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

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

Latest News

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

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

Kurdish Syrians demonstrate in the Syrian eastern city of Qamishli to demand the release of the jailed founder of the Kurdistan Workers Party, Abdullah Ocalan, in Turkey, on May 29, 2025.

Exclusive

Ankara’s direct talks with Syrian Kurds began last year in Europe, continue in Turkey

The talks are part of a sweeping effort to end Turkey’s decades-long war with the PKK and reshape Ankara’s relationship with Kurdish-led forces in Syria.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

RAMI AL SAYED/AFP via Getty Images

Exclusive

US Syria envoy Barrack calls Kurdish SDF chief Kobane as Turkey mulls meeting

Sources tell Al-Monitor that Turkish officials have proposed a high-level meeting with SDF commander Mazlum Kobane in Damascus, contingent on the outcome of ongoing talks with Syria’s interim government.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Kurdish youths holds a poster of jailed PKK militant group leader Abdullah Ocalan during Newroz celebrations, on March 21, 2025, in Diyarbakir, Turkey.

Turkey unveils prison reform bill, but Kurds say it falls short

The proposed changes would expand conditional release for some inmates but fail to meet demands of the pro-Kurdish DEM Party amid peace efforts.

A handout picture from the Syrian state news agency SANA showing members of the security forces in Syria's coastal region

EU sanctions Sunni factions accused of violence against Syria’s Alawites, Kurds

As former rebel leaders take positions in the new Syrian government, Kurdish officials warn of renewed threats to their autonomy.

ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey's Erdogan angles to retain power despite denying plans for third term

As Turkey's president touts democratic reform, critics say he’s laying the groundwork to bypass term limits.

OMAR ALBAW/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

As Israel deconfliction talks proceed, Turkey and Syria discuss military ties during visits

A senior Turkish military delegation traveled to Damascus as Ankara and Washington hold talks on Syrian Kurdish groups and Syrian stability.

Kurdish youths holds a poster of jailed PKK militant group leader Abdullah Ocalan during Newroz celebrations on March 21, 2025 in Diyarbakir, Turkey.

PKK holds congress in response to Ocalan's call to end war with Turkey

The PKK announced that it had held a congress in Iraqi Kurdistan, most likely to decide on disbanding after its leader's call to end its insurgency.

Syrian Kurds wave flags bearing pictures of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan, as they gather in the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli in northeastern Syria to listen to a message from the jailed leader on February 27, 2025. Ocalan issued a historic call on February 27 for his Kurdish militant force to disband and his fighters to lay down their arms. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP) (Photo by DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images) SYRIA-TURKEY-CONFLICT-KURDS

Analysis

Can Turkey stomach autonomy for Syrian Kurds? Iraq offers cautionary model

Ankara’s decades-long resistance to Kurdish autonomy is being tested as Syrian Democratic Forces seem to be insisting on decentralization.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

DIYARBAKIR, TURKEY - MARCH 21: A young man jumps holding poster of the jailed PKK militant group leader Abdullah Ocalan during Newroz celebrations on March 21, 2025 in Diyarbakir, Turkey. Newroz, or Nowruz, a celebration of the spring equinox and Persian new year, is observed by a diverse array of communities across western and central Asia, including Kurdish areas of Turkey, Syria and Iraq. Newroz is the most important festival in Kurdish culture and has taken the form of political expression among Kurds i

In first since 2012, pro-Kurdish lawmakers meet Erdogan, 'hopeful' about peace

The meeting comes as Turkey’s pro-Kurdish party is treading a fine line amid ongoing outrage in the public over the Istanbul mayor’s arrest.

Israeli tanks take position near the fence with the buffer zone that separates the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights from the rest of Syria near the Druze village of Majdal Shams on Dec. 8, 2024.

Analysis

Can Trump prevent Israel, Turkey from clashing in Syria?

Seeing opportunity in a new nuclear deal with Iran and eager to avoid entanglement in Syria, Trump appears to finally be making moves toward Middle East engagement. But don't call it a policy yet.

Jared Szuba

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

A picture taken on Oct. 17, 2017, shows excess flammable gasses burning from gas flares at the Havana oil field, west of the multiethnic northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk.

Exclusive

Iraq seeks more compensation from Turkey, 'blocks' reopening of Kurds' oil pipeline

Disputes over oil revenues and arbitration claims have kept the Kurdish pipeline closed.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

OVEMBER 13: U.S. President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shakes hands during a press conference in the East Room of the White House on November 13, 2019 in Washington, DC. During their meeting, Trump and Erdogan were scheduled to discuss Turkey's purchase of a Russian air defense system as well as the Turkish offensive against the Kurds in Syria. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Analysis

Turkey sees opportunity with Trump to weaken Kurdish bloc, acquire F-35

During recent high-level talks held in Washington, both sides signaled their willingness to address some long-running issues — yet failed to address some of the biggest sticking points in US-Turkey relations.

Ezgi Akin

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