Kurdish controlled syria

Kurdish women helped defeat ISIS in Syria. What is next for them as SDF dissolves? - analysis

Will the women who played such a heroic and key role in defeating ISIS receive new roles in Syria's new security force, or be left behind?

|BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
A Kurdish internal security forces member stands guard with a weapon as Syrian Kurds attend a protest in solidarity with the people in the neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh in Aleppo, in Hasakah, Syria January 7, 2026.
Nechirvan Barzani, the regional president of Iraqi Kurdistan, delivers a speech after casting his ballot in Arbil, the capital of Iraqi's northern autonomous Kurdish region, on November 11, 2025.

Iraqi Kurdistan emerges as a key diplomatic bridge between US and Iran - analysis

Nechirvan Barzani’s ties with Washington, Tehran and regional Kurdish actors have positioned Iraqi Kurdistan as a key diplomatic bridge.

|BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Ali al-Zaidi speaks during a parliamentary session to vote in a new government headed by Ali al-Zaidi as prime minister, at the parliament headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq, May 14, 2026.

Iraq's PM arrives in Washington as US presses Baghdad on Iran-backed militias - analysis

Iraq is already a kind of frontline between the US and Iran. After the US and Israel began strikes on Iran on February 28, the Iranians operationalized militias in Iraq.

|BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Iranian Kurdish fighters from the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) take part in a training session at a base on the outskirts of Erbil, Iraq February 12, 2026.

The strategic misjudgment of the Kurdish factor in Iran’s war - opinion

While Washington initially expressed rhetorical support for the Kurdish opposition, it later issued more cautious messages discouraging active Kurdish involvement in the conflict.

|ByVEYSI DAG

The US still wants Kurdish “unity” to help with eastern Syria - analysis

The Biden administration has inherited the chaotic Trump administration’s approach to eastern Syria, and reports say that the Biden team is still working on Kurdish unity talks.

DECEMBER 18, 2021BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Displaced Kurds stuck at a border after a Turkish offensive in northeastern Syria, wait to try cross to the Iraqi side, at the Semalka crossing, next Derik city, Syria, October 21, 2019

The US still wants Kurdish 'unity' to help with eastern Syria - analysis

The Biden administration has inherited the chaotic Trump administration’s approach to eastern Syria.

DECEMBER 18, 2021BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Displaced Kurds stuck at a border after a Turkish offensive in northeastern Syria, wait to try cross to the Iraqi side, at the Semalka crossing, next Derik city, Syria, October 21, 2019

Women of Rojava, Kurdish Syria suffering in the shadow of war

As Turkey contemplates another offensive against the Kurds, the dream of a just society in northeast Syria drifts further away.

NOVEMBER 6, 2021ByKSENIA SVETLOVA/THE MEDIA LINE
Rojava Peshmerga fighters from Syria are one of the forces guarding Mosul Dam in Iraq

Turkey accused of bulldozing cemetery to create 'mass grave' - analysis

It appears every time that Turkey has a high level meeting with US officials or a call with a US official Turkish state media is mobilized to invent or discover some new “YPG/PKK terror.”

JULY 18, 2021BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Turkish soldiers deployed last month in the center of Afrin, a Syrian town bordering on Turkey

Kurdistan Region calls for unity against ISIS threats

ISIS attacked Kurdish Peshmerga fighters near Pirde in Iraq overnight.

MAY 1, 2021BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
A Kurdistan Region Peshmerga looks out at ISIS positions from his frontline near Kirkuk in 2015

Turkey botches raid, blames 'terrorists,' attacks domestic critics

How did all this begin?

FEBRUARY 15, 2021BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
A Turkey-backed Syrian rebel fighter walks next to a wall where is depicted the jailed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan, in the border town of Tal Abyad

Displaced Syrians near Afrin say Turkish airstrikes terrorize civilians

The area has many displaced people, including Kurdish and Yazidi minorities, who fled Afrin when Turkey invaded northern Syria in January 2018.

FEBRUARY 12, 2021BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
A Turkey-backed Syrian rebel fighter walks next to a wall where is depicted the jailed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan, in the border town of Tal Abyad

Two car bombs kill at least 11 in Syria's Northern Aleppo

Turkey, which is allied with some rebel groups opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, is in control of the area where the explosion occurred.

JANUARY 31, 2021ByREUTERS
Cars stand in line at a gasoline station as they wait to fuel up in Aleppo, Syria, April 11, 2019

Kurds in Syria could also be reconciling as new US admin take shape

The US Embassy in Syria tweeted on January 15 that it supported the ongoing Syrian intra-Kurdish dialogue and looked forward to its continued progress.

JANUARY 19, 2021BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Turkish Kurds look towards the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani from the top of a hill close to the border line between Turkey and Syria near Mursitpinar bordergate

Turkey-backed fighters clash with Kurdish forces in north Syria town

A rebel source with the Turkey-backed National Army said the faction seized some farmland after mounting an attack at the edge of the town.

DECEMBER 18, 2020ByREUTERS
KURDISH FEMALE fighters of the Women’s Protection Unit (YPJ) take part in a military parade as they celebrate victory over Islamic State, in Qamishli, Syria, in March 2019.