Kurds

Syrian Forces Deploy at Key Dam Under Deal with Kurds

Security forces from the new Islamist government in Damascus deployed Saturday around a strategic dam in northern Syria, under a deal with the autonomous Kurdish administration, state media reported. Under the agreement, Kurdish-led fighters of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) will pull back from the dam, which they captured from the ...

Kurdish Authorities and Syrian Government Reach Deal on Tishrin Dam

The Kurdish authorities in northeastern Syria have struck a deal with the central government on running a key dam they captured from jihadists with US support, a Kurdish source said Thursday. "An agreement has been reached between the autonomous administration and the Syrian government for the management of the Tishrin Dam" on the Euphrates ...

Pro-Turkey Syria Groups Reduce Presence in Kurdish Area

Pro-Turkey Syrian groups have scaled down their military presence in an historically Kurdish-majority area of the country's north, which they have controlled since 2018, a Syrian defense ministry official said on Tuesday. The move follows an agreement signed last month between Syria's new authorities and Kurdish officials that provides for the ...

Syria's Kurds Reject Legitimacy of New Government

The Kurdish-led administration in northwestern Syria on Sunday rejected the legitimacy of the new national government formed by the Islamist coalition that toppled longtime autocrat Bashar al-Assad in December. "Any government that does not reflect the country's diversity and plurality cannot ensure proper governance of Syria," it said in a ...

Peace Hopes Remain Remote as Turkey's Kurds Mark 'Newroz'

Three weeks after jailed PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan urged his militants to disband, Turkey's Kurds were celebrating their Newroz New Year Friday with peace prospects still remote. The efforts to broker a solution to the decades-long Kurdish conflict have likely been complicated by the widespread unrest provoked by Wednesday's arrest of Istanbul ...

Ocalan Calls for PKK to Drop Weapons, be Dissolved

Jailed PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan on Thursday called for his Kurdish militant group to lay down its weapons and dissolve itself in a landmark declaration read out in Istanbul. "All groups must lay down their arms and PKK must dissolve itself," he said in a declaration drawn up in his cell on Imrali prison island where he has been held in ...

Explaining the Diplomatic Roller-Coaster in Damascus

The diplomatic roller-coaster in Syria’s capital since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime suggests that a strategic shift is underway. This is all the more significant as the Prince of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, made an official visit to Damascus on Thursday, where he was received by the interim Syrian president, Ahmad ...

German FM: No Financing for an Islamist State in Syria

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned Syria's new leaders Friday not to establish an Islamist government after the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad last month. "Europe will support" Syria in its transition, "but Europe will not finance new Islamist structures," Baerbock told reporters at the end of a visit to Syria. "This ...

Jailed PKK Leader Says Strengthening Turk-Kurd Brotherhood ‘Historical Responsibility'

Jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan told a rare visiting delegation from Turkey's pro-Kurdish party that bolstering Turkish-Kurdish ties is vital and that he is ready to contribute to the process. "Re-strengthening the Turkish-Kurdish brotherhood is not only a historical responsibility but also... an urgency for all peoples," Ocalan said according ...