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

People sit in the back of a truck as they celebrate what they said was the liberation of villages from Islamist rebels near the city of Ras al-Ain in the province of Hasakah, after capturing it from Islamist rebels November 6, 2013. Redur Xelil, spokesman for the armed wing of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), said Kurdish militias had seized the city of Ras al-Ain and all its surrounding villages. Syrian Kurdish fighters have captured more territory from Islamist rebels in northeastern Syria

Turkey backtracking on 'red lines' for Syria's Kurds

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has reportedly agreed to accept Kurdish participation at the Syria congress in Sochi, as long as those Kurds do not belong to the Democratic Union Party.

Turkey squeezed between American hammer, Russian anvil on Syrian stage

The Kurdish issue is only one of the catalysts to indicate Turkey’s weakened posture in Syria, the Middle East and the world.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani together with his counterparts, Russia's Vladimir Putin and Turkey's Tayyip Erdogan, attend a joint news conference following their meeting in Sochi, Russia November 22, 2017. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC1D16F4FF70

Sochi summit leaves Turkey facing unsavory possibilities

It's unknown how far Moscow will go to appease Ankara with regard to the Syrian Kurds.

Putin-Trump statement on Syria contradicts Erdogan’s calculations

A joint statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump that there is no military solution in Syria infuriated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkey’s misguided Middle East policy: From Syria, Iraq to the Gulf

Turkey’s misguided foreign policy has increasingly become apparent in three main spheres: Syria, Iraq and the Gulf region.

A picture taken on June 9, 2017 shows the main entrance to the city of Afrin, along Syria's northern border with Turkey. / AFP PHOTO / George OURFALIAN (Photo credit should read GEORGE OURFALIAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Turkey tightens siege on Afrin

Turkey is closing in on the Kurdish stronghold of Afrin in northern Syria.

Riot police walk during a pro-Kurdish gathering in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, Turkey, August 31, 2016. To match TURKEY-SECURITY/POLICE REUTERS/Sertac Kayar - S1AEUAIGPRAA

Turkey pays informants to target most wanted terrorists

Al-Monitor looks into the success of Turkey's 2-year-old program that pays informants for tips that help eliminate illegal organizations operating in the country.

Turkey quietly concerned with Russia’s Kurdish policy

President Vladimir Putin’s idea for an all-Syria congress incorporating all ethnic groups has raised eyebrows in Ankara.

A boy sells Iraqi flags on a street in Kirkuk, Iraq October 19, 2017. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed - RC13D638D300

Kurds lose, but that doesn't mean Turkey's a winner

The Kurdistan independence referendum backfired and Kurds are suffering, but Turkey might want to hold off on celebrating until it considers the long-term consequences.

Turkey claims 'no need' for US, EU as Western ties deteriorate

After a week of sparring with the United States, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused European allies of undermining Turkey and dared them to walk away from EU membership talks.

Jailed Kurdish leader keeps in touch with supporters through arts, literature

Selahattin Demirtas, the jailed leader of Turkey’s Kurdish political movement, tells Al-Monitor from prison how arts and literature have become his way of resisting oppression and despair.

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli addresses his supporters during a rally for the upcoming referendum, in Istanbul, Turkey, April 9, 2017. REUTERS/Osman Orsal - RC1C00872BD0

Turkey’s post-referendum fury exposes armed ‘volunteers’

Turkey’s nationalist opposition leader has warned of 5,000 volunteers ready to fight for the Turkmens in Kirkuk, but Turkey’s own Kurds seem to be the actual target of the threat.