The Takeaway: Killing of Turkish hostages by PKK tests fragile US-Turkey ties - Al-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Andrew Parasiliti

Andrew Parasiliti

Feb 17, 2021

Turkish President and leader of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during his party's group meeting at the Turkish Grand National Assembly in Ankara on February 10, 2021. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images) — Turkish President and leader of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during his party's group meeting at the Turkish Grand National Assembly in Ankara on Feb. 10, 2021. — ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey: Can Washington and Ankara find common ground on Syrian Kurds?

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to expand military operations against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants in Iraq and Syria after a local leader of the group reportedly ordered the execution of 13 Turkish hostages on Feb. 13. The PKK claims the hostages were killed in airstrikes by the Turkish military.

Mohamed Aliwa, a Palestinian youth whose leg was amputated near the knee in 2018 after he was hit by Israeli army fire during protests along the fortified border separating the Gaza Strip from Israel, shows off his parkour skills despite his disability and while on crutches in Gaza City on January 4, 2021. - Parkour, an extreme sport also known as free-running, originated in France in the 1990s. Young people in the Gaza Strip have been practising parkour for years; bounding from ruin to ruin in an enclave p

With one leg, this Gazan parkour star crosses besieged enclave

Hana Salah

Hana Salah

Turkish President and leader of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech during a meeting of members of the AK Party at the Turkish Grand National Assembly in Ankara, on February 24, 2021. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

The Takeaway: US-Turkey strains worsening over Syrian Kurds amid fresh Erdogan complaints

Andrew Parasiliti

Andrew Parasiliti

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, national security

Smoke billows following reported shelling by government forces on the northwestern Syrian town of Barah, in the rebel held Idlib province on February 12, 2021. (Photo by Abdulaziz KETAZ / AFP) (Photo by ABDULAZIZ KETAZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Is HTS reining in or expanding jihadist network in Idlib?

Khaled al-Khateb

Khaled al-Khateb

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 05: Hillary Clinton and Chelsea Clinton speak onstage at 'Hillary Clinton and Chelsea Clinton discuss their new book 'The Book of Gutsy Women' at The Wilshire Ebell Theatre on November 05, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)

Turkey enraged by Clintons' TV show exalting Syrian Kurdish women fighters

Amberin Zaman

Amberin Zaman

In London, reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture