This is Beirut, 2025-07-11 09:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Fighters from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) will start laying down their arms at a ceremony in northern Iraq on Friday, two months after the militant group ended its armed struggle against the Turkish state. The move comes in response to a historic call by jailed PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan in February, urging them to end their decades-long ...
This is Beirut, 2025-07-11 09:05 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Thirty PKK fighters destroyed their weapons at a ceremony in Iraqi Kurdistan on Friday, two months after the Kurdish rebels ended their decades-long armed struggle against the Turkish state. The ceremony marks a turning point in the transition of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) from armed insurgency to democratic politics, as part of a ...
Sarah Martin, 2025-07-09 17:40 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
Turkey Kurds PKK Abdullah Öcalan Disarmament
More than four decades after the start of an armed insurgency that has claimed over 45,000 lives, an announcement made on July 9, 2025, could mark a decisive turning point in Turkey’s modern history. Speaking from his isolated prison cell on the island of Imrali, Abdullah Öcalan, the historic leader and founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party ...
This is Beirut, 2025-07-09 16:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Lebanon Turkey United Nations Syria UNHCR
Thousands of Syrian refugees are set to return from Lebanon this week as part of the first United Nations-backed plan that offers financial incentives for repatriation, Reuters reported on Wednesday. The initiative comes as Syria’s new Islamist-led government, which replaced President Bashar al-Assad in December, says all citizens are welcome ...
This is Beirut, 2025-07-09 09:45 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
The Kurdish militant PKK group's disarmament process will happen quickly but establishing a Turkish political framework to ensure the switch to democratic politics will be crucial, its jailed founder said Wednesday. Abdullah Ocalan's statement came ahead of Friday's ceremony in northern Iraq for a first tranche of PKK militants to lay ...
This is Beirut, 2025-07-07 17:35 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Turkey PKK Kurds Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met lawmakers from the pro-Kurdish DEM party Monday to discuss the next steps after PKK militants agreed to end their decades-long insurgency. DEM, Turkey's third-biggest party, has played a key role in facilitating an emerging peace deal between the government and jailed PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan, whose ...
This is Beirut, 2025-07-07 15:00 - Reading : less than a minute
Syria Turkey wildfires climate change environment
Massive wildfires have ravaged parts of Syria and Turkey, turning forests to ash and triggering what officials call a “real environmental disaster."
This is Beirut, 2025-07-07 12:00 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Turkey said on Monday that 12 soldiers had died after being exposed to methane gas during a search operation in caves in northern Iraq, increasing its previous toll of eight. The incident comes at a sensitive time, with Turkey in talks to end the conflict with the Kurds after the PKK militant group agreed to halt its decades-long armed ...
This is Beirut, 2025-07-06 17:25 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Syria Latakia Wildfires Jordan Turkey
Syrian authorities said some 100 square kilometers (40 square miles) of forest had "turned to ash" in wildfires as firefighters from neighboring Jordan arrived Sunday to battle a fourth day of blazes in the province of Latakia. Syrian emergency workers have faced tough conditions, including high temperatures, strong winds, rugged mountainous ...
This is Beirut, 2025-07-05 13:50 - Reading : less than a minute
Lebanon Donald Trump Turkey Tom Barrack
US Special Envoy and Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack described the current period as “a historic moment to supersede the strained confessionalism of the past and finally fulfill Lebanon’s true hope of one country, one people and one army.” In a post on X on Saturday, Barrack emphasized that “Lebanon’s hope awakens and the opportunity ...
This is Beirut, 2025-07-05 13:06 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan opposition
Turkey arrested three more opposition mayors early on Saturday as part of an investigation into alleged graft, officials from the main opposition CHP said, denouncing it as a "political operation." The early morning arrests were the latest move targeting elected officials of the Republican People's Party (CHP) as the government of ...
This is Beirut, 2025-07-04 12:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Firefighters early Friday gained control over a major wildfire in the western Turkish province of Izmir but two others continued to ravage forests there, a minister said. Although Turkey was spared the recent heatwaves that hit the rest of southern Europe, firefighters have been battling more than 600 fires in the drought-hit nation over the past ...