Kurds Seek Federal Solution as Tensions Rise in Syria and Beyond

Kurds wave independence-era flags during a demonstration in support of the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the northeastern city of Qamishli, on Dec. 19, 2024. (DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

GIORGIA VALENTE

MEDIALINE
12/29/2024

Kurds face oppression across the Middle East, battling for recognition and autonomy while resisting extremism, Turkey's aggression, and regional political challenges

The Kurdish people, often referred to as the largest stateless ethnic group in the world, have faced centuries of marginalization and persecution. Scattered across Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran, the Kurds share a cultural, linguistic, and historical bond but remain divided by political borders imposed after World War I. In Syria, their plight has been particularly stark with decades of oppression under the Arab nationalist Baath regime.

“The Kurds are native to Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. Today, they are probably the largest ethnic group that does not have a state of its own. There are about 20 million in Turkey, 10 [million] in Iraq, 6 [million] in Iran, and 3 or 4 [million] in Syria. We do not have exact numbers. It’s all estimates,” Henri Barkey, adjunct senior fellow for Middle East Studies at CFR, said to The Media Line.

Kurds in Syria have long been treated as second-class citizens. Stripped of citizenship rights in the 1960s, many were rendered stateless and denied access to education, property ownership, and other fundamental rights.


I was perhaps one of the few Kurds who did not belong to the ruling party in Syria and still had the opportunity to work academically in Syrian universities, despite being classified as an opponent of the regime. When I earned my doctorate with distinction, the regime’s security agencies issued a secret order banning me from teaching in all public and private universities.

“I was perhaps one of the few Kurds who did not belong to the ruling party in Syria and still had the opportunity to work academically in Syrian universities, despite being classified as an opponent of the regime,” said to The Media Line, Serbest Nabi, a Syrian Kurdish political philosophy professor, currently living in Erbil, Kurdistan. However, his achievements came at a cost. “When I earned my doctorate with distinction, the regime’s security agencies issued a secret order banning me from teaching in all public and private universities,” he said.

This marginalization was rooted in the Baathist ideology, which sought to suppress ethnic diversity in favor of Arab nationalism. For Kurds, asserting their identity or demanding rights was met with suspicion and repression. “The suspicion of being an extreme Kurdish nationalist followed me everywhere and throughout my academic life,” he shared.

Many Syrian Kurds facing these issues, like Nabi, had to escape to Iraq, a country where Kurds achieved autonomy as part of a federal state. As of January 2024, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees reported that approximately 270,000 Syrian refugees were residing in Iraq, with the majority being Syrian Kurds.


I sought refuge in Iraqi Kurdistan. My family joined me here later. My children, who grew up here, know nothing about their homeland and their father’s birthplace.

“I sought refuge in Iraqi Kurdistan. My family joined me here later. My children, who grew up here, know nothing about their homeland and their father’s birthplace,” Nabi addressed.

Since the Syrian Civil War in 2011, Kurdish forces, primarily the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), have played a crucial role in fighting ISIS and controlling key territories in northern Syria.

“The Kurds in Syria alone have faced the culture of religious extremism and the racism of the Arab Baathist regime. Fate has forced them to confront groups like ISIS, Al-Nusra, and others with takfiri ideologies,” Barkey stated.

“The Kurds are responsible for holding 40,000 ISIS prisoners, including fighters, women, and children. If Turkey keeps pushing militias to obstacle them, these prisoners could escape, spreading across the Middle East and reigniting the ISIS threat in Syria like in the past,” he added.

SDF historically allied with the US against ISIS, but this has led to tensions with Turkey, which views the group as an extension of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party), a designated terrorist organization.

“Turkey has invaded Syrian territory controlled by the Kurds three times since 2016, shrinking Kurdish-held areas under the pretext of fighting terrorism. Turkey, a NATO member, has been attacking Kurdish forces with impunity while the US did very little to protect them. Kurds were betrayed by allies,” Barkey said.

By supporting extremist factions, like Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), and creating proxy forces like the Syrian National Army, Ankara has sought to prevent any form of Kurdish autonomy along its borders.


Turkey is strategically afraid of Kurdish autonomy. If the Syrian Kurds negotiate something similar to Iraq’s federal structure, it raises the possibility that Turkish Kurds will demand the same. For Erdogan, this is a red line.

“Turkey is strategically afraid of Kurdish autonomy. If the Syrian Kurds negotiate something similar to Iraq’s federal structure, it raises the possibility that Turkish Kurds will demand the same. For Erdogan, this is a red line,” explained Barkey.

“Erdogan wants to bring back Ottoman thoughts—control Egypt, the Mediterranean Sea, Greece, and Cyprus. It’s all for pipelines and regional dominance, but the Kurds are an obstacle to this plan,” Juan Saadoun, a Syrian Kurd media activist currently living in Canada, said to The Media Line.

He also highlighted the hypocrisy in the West’s position these days. “The irony is that while the West normalized HTS, which originated from Al-Qaeda, they label Kurds as terrorists for past PKK ties,” he said.

Turkey’s aggression also aims to prevent solidarity between Kurds across borders. “We, along with the Kurds of Turkey, represent a shared social, cultural, and historical extension. Political borders cannot separate our common consciousness of belonging to our identity,” Saadoun noted.

He emphasized how Turkey’s proxy forces exacerbated the plight of civilians. “The Turkish-backed factions in Afrin and other areas in Syria commit atrocities, prevent families from returning, and enforce extremist practices like Jizya taxation,” he stated.

Personal stories of loss underscore the gravity of the situation and point out the fear of an ISIS comeback. “My brother Yusuf led fierce battles against ISIS and was martyred resisting the Turkish invasion in 2019 in Ras al-Ain (Sere Kaniye). My cousin, Haji, was martyred in the battles to liberate Raqqa from ISIS. We must prevent this from happening again,” Nabi shared.

Despite these challenges, the Kurds remain resilient, united by a shared vision for self-determination. “The Kurdish tragedy cannot continue in this manner. A solution must transcend the colonial-imposed borders of the Middle East after World War I to ensure the rightful place of the Kurds in this geography,” Barkey stated.

We want a federal region, like the Kurdistan region in Iraq. We want safety and protection for Alawites, Druze, and other minorities as well.

Saadoun shared this view: “We want a federal region, like the Kurdistan region in Iraq. We want safety and protection for Alawites, Druze, and other minorities as well.”

Yet, achieving this dream is fraught with obstacles. “I aspire to return to my country and participate in political life,” Nabi said. “However, I find it very difficult to return to a country ruled by an Islamic political-religious movement. I will most likely be on the side of the opposition, continuing to confront any tendency toward establishing a tyrannical religious authority in Syria.”, he claimed.

The Kurdish struggle for recognition, equality, and safety continues, a testament to their enduring spirit in the face of adversity. As Nabi pointed out, “The current situation requires resilience and global solidarity. Without it, the Kurds will remain caught in a cycle of war and marginalization, their sacrifices overshadowed by regional and international politics.”

Erdoğan's government is caught up in the hysteria of destroying Kurds

Erdoğan's government aims to crush the Kurds by deploying SNA forces against them. But this is not enough. They are directly coordinating military operations, and inciting Arab populations in the autonomous regions to create instability."


ZEKI AKIL
NEWS DESK
Sunday, 15 December 2024, 

The Turkish press and circles close to the government have framed the developments in Syria as a personal victory. They are seizing the shifting balances and power vacuums to pursue the eradication of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and, ultimately, to "close the book" on the Kurds. There appears to be a complete mental paralysis when it comes to the Kurds. Can those who proclaim, "Kurds and Turks are brothers; we have lived together for a thousand years," genuinely celebrate the metaphorical burial of the Kurds with such enthusiasm? Is it normal for them to be so deeply invested in and leading such efforts? Those who question or critically reflect on this situation are conspicuously absent.

In Turkey, the Kurdish population is estimated to be in the tens of millions, although the exact number remains uncertain. These Kurds live alongside Turks, attending the same schools, serving in the military, and working together in various sectors. How can peoples who coexist so intimately tolerate such oppression and suppression of one another? How can they become complicit in enabling the war-mongering elites orchestrating even greater disasters for the Kurds? These are questions worth asking. From the perspective of those who respect history and the coexistence of peoples, this reflects a complete breakdown of rationality and morality.

What have the Kurds ever done to the Turkish state to warrant this hostility? What disasters or conspiracies have they orchestrated or participated in? None.

The Kurds have been divided between four states and stripped of their political will. They have endured systematic assimilation. In this context, the Kurds are undeniably a victimized and oppressed people. Their demands are straightforward: recognition of their existence and respect for their political agency. They have not sought to divide any state, nor do they currently advocate for establishing an independent state. Instead, they emphasize a shared will to live peacefully alongside the peoples with whom they coexist. Their demands are for peace and democracy, not only for themselves but for the broader region as well. Do such reasonable demands justify the level of hostility and aggression they face?

Those who claim, "Kurds and Turks are brothers, and we have lived together for a thousand years," are actively devising and executing catastrophic plans against the Kurds in Syria. The Turkish press and leadership, brimming with enthusiasm, celebrate the victories of the Syrian National Army (SNA) and urge them to escalate their attacks on the Kurds. But who are these forces labeled as SNA? Many of them are former members of DAESH (ISIS) and Al-Qaeda, rebranded under new names and symbols. Among them are individuals involved in looting and atrocities, including foreign fighters who have engaged in widespread violence. They looted Afrin and played a significant role in ethnic cleansing. Reports from the United Nations and other human rights organizations document numerous war crimes committed by these groups. Despite this, the Turkish media and officials have glorified them as heroes. Their primary motivation for doing so is to use these forces as a tool against the Kurds and to further intensify their attacks.

The guiding principle of Erdoğan’s administration is clear: "As long as the Kurds gain nothing, let the world burn." Shouldn’t the Turkish press, political elites, and democratic forces be questioning this stance? Is it Turkey's role to whitewash the crimes of the SNA? Yet they celebrate attacks on Kurdish regions and the autonomous administration with great fervor. They seem consumed by a hysterical determination to ensure that the Kurds never benefit from the current situation—to destroy them, and to do so as quickly as possible.

Erdoğan's administration has also claimed a major victory following Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s (HTS) consolidation of power, seeking to use it as a political weapon to suppress domestic opposition and distract from economic crises like hunger and poverty. Erdoğan is exploiting every opportunity to ensure his political survival, eyeing the chance to remain in power indefinitely.

When will the people of Turkey wake up from this spell and see reality? Is it truly in their interest to see a Taliban-like regime take root next door? The dynamics of the region are shifting rapidly, with unforeseen developments unfolding. Russia and Iran have been sidelined in Syria, while Israel is extending its influence deeper into Syrian territory, bombing strategic targets. Israel asserts that it is acting to ensure stability, claiming it does not want a strong and unpredictable regime on its border. Meanwhile, Erdoğan and his inner circle remain silent, even when it comes to groups like HTS. Now, Iraq and Iran appear to be next in line. Has Turkey aligned itself with U.S. and Israeli interests in this regard as well? What price will Turkey ultimately pay for allowing Erdoğan to meddle so deeply in Syria?

Erdoğan's government aims to crush the Kurds by deploying SNA forces against them. But this is not enough. They are directly coordinating military operations, providing air support, and inciting Arab populations in the autonomous regions to create instability and chaos. They view this as the weakest link in the Autonomous Administration and are exploiting it. Yet many voices around the world are calling for an end to violence and a resolution to the conflict. Turkey, however, is working tirelessly to destabilize the most democratic and stable autonomous regions, oppress the Kurds, and erase their political agency. They are unyielding in their hostility toward Kurdish existence. For them, principles like the fraternity of peoples, the rule of law, or moral standards are irrelevant.

Reports of massacres and revenge attacks against Alevis, Kurds, women, and prisoners in Syria are beginning to surface. It is not difficult to imagine that the reality is even worse than what has been reported. Can a democratic and stable Syria ever emerge from such a mentality?

In summary, the overarching policy toward the Kurds is one of genocide and eradication. There is no alternative discourse. The Kurdish people and democratic forces must recognize that Syria is heading toward an even darker and more uncertain future. Whatever must be done, it must be done without delay.

BACKGROUNDER

War with the Kurds looms in Syria. Will a US senator’s threat of “crippling sanctions” make Damascus and Ankara back off?

A group of Kurdish fighters serving the YPG, the group that forms the military backbone of the SDF. / Kurdishstruggle, cc-by-sa 2.0

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By bne Eurasia bureau January 28, 2026

US Senator Lindsey Graham on January 27 described the Syrian Kurds as “under threat from the new Syrian government that is aligned with Turkey”.

The Republican lawmaker said that he plans to this week put forward legislation, named the “Save the Kurds Act”, that will impose “crippling sanctions” on any government or group seen as involved in hostilities against the Kurds.

As fears grow that an ongoing brittle ceasefire between the Syrian Kurds and Syria’s post-Assad government will prove to be nothing but a delay leading up to a conflict over the lands still held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeastern Syria, bordering Turkey, Graham warned that abandoning the Kurds would be “a disaster for America’s reputation and national security interests”.

If the US abandons the SDF, it will be “a disaster for America’s reputation and national security interests”, according to Senator Lindsey Graham (Credit: Gage Skidmore, cc-by-sa 3.0).

It was the SDF, reminded Graham, that served as the chief US ally in destroying the Islamic State group’s territorial hold on extensive parts of Syria.

The “Save the Kurds Act” should attract bipartisan support but “must have teeth to make it effective”, the senator added.

With a potential war looming, Syria’s Defence Ministry and the SDF on January 24 extended a ceasefire by 15 days.

The US Trump administration has made it clear that Washington no longer regards the SDF as its key partner in battling remnants of Islamic State in Syria, saying that that role has been handed to Damascus.

The US military is using the pause in fighting to move thousands of Islamic State detainees, previously guarded by the SDF in northeastern Syria, to Iraq. There is anxiety that prison breaks could lead to the spread of many hardened Islamist terrorists across the region. US Central Command said on January 21 it would “help ensure the terrorists remain in secure detention facilities.”

Regional reports indicate that SDF forces have spent time provided by the ceasefire distributing weapons to residents in Kurdish-majority areas willing to take up arms, with calls having gone out for a general mobilisation.

On January 24, a Guardian reporter filing from the city of Deir ez-Zor in eastern Syria, reported: “Many residents in Kurdish-majority areas have armed themselves. Kurdish forces have dug in, having prepared for this fight for years, creating a vast subterranean tunnel network to facilitate guerrilla fighting against a better armed force.”

Turkey, which strongly backs the government in Damascus, regards the SDF, whose military backbone is the People’s Protection Units (YPG), as little different to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which, designated a terrorist organisation by Turkey and its Western allies, fought a four-decade insurgency against Ankara. That ended last year as Turkish and PKK officials agreed talks. Any permanent peace deal that results would require the full surrender of weapons by the PKK, which is based in the Qandil Mountains of northern Iraq.

The danger is that a war between the Damascus administration, headed by former Al-Qaeda jihadist but now Trump-backed Ahmed al-Sharaa, and the SDF could draw in both the PKK and Turkish forces. Groups among the millions of Kurds who live in Iran in proximity to the Turkish and Iraqi borders must also be a consideration.

Syria's Turkey and Trump-backed president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, with Turkey's leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Credit: Turkish presidency).

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on January 21 that the Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria must disarm and disband. He welcomed the ceasefire but said full disbandment would be required to prevent further fighting.

In 2019, when Turkey made an incursion into Syria to pursue Kurdish forces, Graham announced that he was intending to introduce legislation that would hit Ankara with “devastating” sanctions.

AFP on January 27 reported a spokesman for the political wing of the PKK as saying that recent clashes between Syria’s military and the SDF were a setback for PKK’s peace efforts with Turkey. He contended that the fighting was a “plot and conspiracy” aimed at derailing the talks with the Erdogan administration.

“The developments in Syria and the larger Middle East have a direct effect on the peace process in Turkey,” said Zagros Hiwa, the spokesman.

The SDF has controlled large parts of northeastern Syria for nearly a decade.

On January 21, Turkey rejected as “false” a claim that the Syrian Army's operations are being coordinated from a Damascus government HQ with instructions given in Turkish.

INTERVIEW

Kurds in Syria 'sacrificed' says head of Kurdish Institute of Paris

Syrian government forces have seized swathes of territory from Kurdish forces in the north of the country, effectively dismantling more than a decade of self-rule by the Kurds. The head of the Kurdish Institute of Paris tells RFI that the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces, who fought alongside the United States to combat Islamic State, have been not only abandoned, but sacrificed.


Issued on: 22/01/2026 - RFI

Kurds rallied in Qamishli on 20 January 2026 against a Syrian government advance, before the announcement of a truce deal that many now see as a betrayal. © AFP - DELIL SOULEIMAN

On Tuesday, the Syrian Defence Ministry announced a ceasefire with Kurdish forces and gave them four days to agree to integrate into the forces of President Ahmed al-Sharaa – the Islamist military strongman who came to power in December 2024.

The United States, the main ally of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), has urged them to accept.

The SDF has so far resisted joining the central state, and ceasefire negotiations have collapsed.

Syrian government forces have seized swathes of territory from Kurdish forces in northern Syria, driving them out from Aleppo, Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor – effectively dismantling more than a decade of self-rule by the Kurds.

RFI spoke to Kendal Nézan, the president of the Kurdish Institute of Paris, about the latest developments.

Kendal Nezan: Obviously, we are very worried. The offensive began on 6 January, after a deal between President Trump and Turkish President Erdoğan, so with an American green light.

We saw nearly 40,000 militiamen from the Syrian Arab Army mobilised against two Kurdish neighbourhoods where there were around 450,000 displaced refugees. The neighbourhoods have been defended since 2011 by just a few hundred local police. That gives you a sense of the disproportion.

The neighbourhoods were encircled and, after six days of fighting, the Kurds withdrew. Afterwards, under American pressure, they decided to pull out of towns with an Arab majority, which they did. The Syrian army then retook these cities, which had been liberated by Kurdish forces from the grip of Islamic State.

Kendal Nezan at RFI, 21 January, 2026. © RFI

RFI: A four-day ceasefire came into effect on Tuesday night. Could this help bring the current confrontation to a peaceful resolution?

KN: The issue obviously goes far beyond the fate of the Kurds alone. The fate of the Kurds matters because they defended not only their country and their territory, but also Europe, and humanity, against the Islamist scourge. More than 15,000 young Kurds were killed in that fight. They defeated Islamic State and captured tens of thousands of its members, who were held in camps. They have been doing this since 2014.

And how are they thanked? By being handed over to the Syrian regime and told 'listen, your mission is over, find an arrangement with the new Syrian regime', which is Islamist in nature, given that the current leader is a former jihadist.

So what will happen? The Kurds are faced with a dilemma. They are now confined to areas with a Kurdish majority. Either they come to terms with the regime by individually integrating into the new Syrian army, case by case, or they shift into resistance against this regime.

Syria says Sharaa, Trump discuss Kurdish rights as forces deploy in country's north, east

RFI: What is President Ahmad al-Sharaa trying to achieve?

KN: His intention is to establish his authority across the entire territory, with the logistical, diplomatic and political backing of Turkey, his sponsor. That's very important to point out.

And to establish an Islamic Syrian republic that is already in conflict internally. We saw the massacres of Alawites in March and of Druze in July. The Christian community is very worried. Now it is the Kurds.

So after the dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad, we are moving rapidly towards a new dictatorship – this time Islamist. And I say this for Europeans who think the regime will stabilise: such a regime, with so much power concentrated in the hands of one man, will generate a new influx of refugees and will become an Islamist hub.

RFI: So what is happening in Syria will have consequences for Europe and elsewhere?

KN: It will certainly have consequences in the region, and in Europe. It could tip over and become a centre of jihadism, because within the current Syrian Arab Army you have a heterogeneous mix of various Islamist militias – including between 6,000 and 8,000 foreign jihadists.

RFI: Do the events of recent weeks definitively mark the end of the Kurdish dream of autonomy in Syria?

KN: The Kurds are a resilient people. Over the course of their turbulent history, they have experienced setbacks, betrayals and shifting alliances. Definitive end? No.

But for the moment there is an autonomous zone in northern and north-eastern Syria. That zone has now shrunk to almost nothing and will probably no longer exist. The Kurds had in fact established an alternative system that was ecological and feminist, in which all components of the population – Arabs, Assyrian Chaldeans, women, everyone – took part. And we are heading towards an authoritarian regime where there is only the voice of the leader, who has appointed a parliament and rules the country with an iron fist.

Syrian government forces in armoured vehicles enter the al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria's Hasakeh province on 21 January, after the withdrawal of the Syrian Democratic Forces. AP - Ghaith Alsayed


What's driving France's sudden deportation of Kurdish activists?

RFI: There was also talk of a repressive Kurdish authority installed in Arab regions. It was not an ideal, democratic system either.

KN: Repressive? Certainly not. But conservative Arab tribes did not agree with the model that was put in place, because women were involved, because there were local councils and democracy, so there was irritation. Now they feel liberated.

One of the symbols of the Kurdish resistance was a female fighter, a statue of a Kurdish woman fighter who had liberated Raqqa. The first thing the current Syrian army did was to pull down that statue of a woman. For them, it's heresy. And they opened prison doors to free Kurdish detainees.

RFI: The issue of controlling the region’s prisons, where jihadists or people close to Islamic State are held, is one of the big questions. The Syrian army accuses the SDF of having opened the doors, notably at Shahdad prison, where 120 Islamic State terrorists were held. Does this mean the Kurdish forces are now playing a dangerous game, using the prisons as their last card, at the expense of security?

KN: The Syrian government is coached and briefed by Turkey, which has an extraordinary mastery of black, negative and deceitful propaganda. If the Kurds had wanted to open the prison doors, they would have done so. They have guarded these prisons for around 10 years.

But on Tuesday, for example, the Kurds withdrew from al-Hol, the largest detention camp in the area, where there are 24,000 relatives of jihadists. The camp was attacked from all sides by drones, by the Syrian army and by the Americans. The international coalition was informed and did nothing. They said 'listen, we cannot, we must first defend our own territories, and then it is up to you'. They no longer have the means to act.

Turkey warns Kurdish-led fighters in Syria to join new regime or face attack

RFI: Do you feel that you've been abandoned by the West, by the Americans?

KN: Yes, we've been abandoned. Ingratitude is, of course, a constant in human and political history. I would even say we've been sacrificed by the allies of the international coalition, the Americans of course. But the others remained silent.

RFI: Would you include the French in that?

KN: The voice of France is inaudible. I may be a little hard of hearing, but France’s voice is inaudible. Have you seen any statements of support for our 'brothers in arms'? That was the expression used by a French minister only recently.

This interview, adapted from the original version in French, has been lightly edited for clarity

WOMAN, LIFE, FREEDOM

Syrian Army seizes northeast as US abandons Kurdish-led forces


Issued on: 24/01/2026 - 

PODCAST Play - 06:21  INTERNATIONAL REPORT

The Syrian Army has made sweeping gains against Kurdish-led forces in northeast Syria, dealing a major blow to Syrian Kurdish autonomy and handing victories to both Damascus and neighbouring Turkey. With Washington abandoning its backing of the militia alliance, the Syrian Democratic Forces now face disbandment or renewed fighting.

Syrian government troops stand guard beside a burning tyre on a street in Tabqa, in Syria’s Raqqa province, on the southwestern bank of the Euphrates, on 18 January 2026. AFP - OMAR HAJ KADOUR

Within days, Syrian government troops swept aside the SDF and took control of vast areas of territory. The offensive followed the collapse of talks on integrating the SDF into the Syrian Army.

Washington’s shift proved decisive.

“The game changer was the American permission, the American green light to [Syrian President] Ahmed al-Sharaa. That opened the door to Damascus launching the offensive,” said Syria expert Fabrice Balanche, of Lyon University.

The SDF had been a key US ally in the fight against Islamic State and relied on American support to deter an attack by Damascus. But with Islamic State now weakened and Sharaa joining Washington’s alliance against the group, the Kurds lost their leverage.

“Trump viewed the relationship as temporary, not a true alliance,” said Balanche, a municipal councillor with France's rightwing Republicans party.

French journalist arrested in Turkey while covering pro-Kurdish protest released
US withdrawal and rapid collapse

As Washington ended its support, many Arab tribes quit the Kurdish-led coalition. They aligned with Damascus, allowing government forces to advance quickly in Arab-majority areas.

Several prisons holding Islamic State members fell to government control, with reports that hundreds escaped. Fears of wider instability pushed Washington to broker a ceasefire between the SDF and the Syrian government.

Under the deal, SDF forces are to disband and merge into Syrian government units, a move backed by Ankara.

Turkey has strongly supported the Damascus offensive. It accuses Kurdish elements within the SDF of links to the PKK, which has fought a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state.

“Turkey is certainly behind all these operations,” said international relations professor Huseyin Bagci of Ankara’s Middle East Technical University. “The Turkish defence minister, General Chief of Staff, has recently been in Syria. So there is probably a common action.”

Kurdish tensions inside Turkey

The assault has triggered protests by members of Turkey’s large Kurdish minority in support of Syrian Kurds. It has also coincided with talks between the pro-Kurdish Dem Party, the Turkish government and the outlawed PKK aimed at ending the conflict.

The PKK declared a ceasefire and pledged to disband last year, but talks stalled months ago. Ankara has blamed the deadlock on the SDF’s refusal to join the PKK’s disarmament commitment.

The fighting in Syria could deepen Kurdish disillusionment with the peace process, political analyst Sezin Oney, of the Politikyol news portal, warned.

“They pictured this peace process as a big win for the PKK that finally all these rights, all the political rights, cultural rights, everything would be recognized, and a new era would begin," Oney said.

"It's not that, and it won't be that there is nobody in Turkey on the side of the government who was envisioning such a change or anything of the sort."

The Dem Party had few options left. “The only thing Dem can do is rally the Kurdish public in Turkey, and it is just going to be disbursed,” Oney added.

Syrian army offensive in Aleppo draws support from Turkey

Risk of wider bloodshed

Turkish police have broken up many pro-SDF protests using water cannon and gas, carrying out hundreds of arrests.

French journalist Raphael Boukandoura was detained and later released, in a move rights groups said was meant to intimidate foreign media.

Without US intervention, Damascus would push further into Kurdish-held areas, Balanche warned. “Sharaa will seize everything."

The risk of large-scale violence, he added, was growing in a region marked by tribal rivalries and years of war.

“Northeastern Syria is a very tribal area. The tribal leaders who are mobilizing their groups, their fighters, and they’re attacking," Balanche said.

“Because of 10 years of civil war, you have a lot of vengeance that was under the table, and now everything is exploding. So it could be very bloody.”

By:  Dorian Jones

Pressured by Damascus to integrate into the state, what does the future hold for Syria’s Kurds?

INTERVIEW

After Syrian forces on Wednesday seized Kurdish strongholds in the northeast of the country, the Syrian government gave Kurdish forces until Saturday to reach an agreement on how they will integrate into the state. Is the dream of an autonomous state over for Syria’s Kurds?


Issued on: 23/01/2026 - 

FRANCE24
By: Assiya HAMZA

Fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stand guard in Hasakah, Syria, on January 20, 2026. © Orhan Qereman, Reuters

As Syria’s Kurds come under increased pressure from the central government in Damascus, they have seen their alliance with the US crumble.

Backed by the US, the Kurds have long spearheaded efforts by the West to fight against the Islamic State (IS) group.

The Kurdish-led armed group, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in 2012-2013 established its governance over swathes of territory in the north and northeast of the country that became known as the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, or Rojava (meaning “west” in Kurdish).

But since the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s new leadership has formed its own alliance with Washington and pushed the Kurds to give up their aspirations of autonomy.

Violent clashes with government forces in January saw the Kurds driven out from the city of Aleppo. They later evacuated Raqqa and Deir Ezzor.

The SDF, which previously controlled around 30 percent of Syria’s territory, has been pushed back to strongholds along the Turkish border in al-Hasakah, Qamishli and Kobane and handed over governance of prisons holding thousands of IS group members.

“The original purpose of the SDF as the primary anti-ISIS force on the ground has largely expired, as Damascus is now both willing and positioned to take over security responsibilities, including control of ISIS detention facilities and camps,” US ambassador to Syria Tom Barrack wrote on X, using an alternative acronym for the IS group.

Syria, Kurdish-led SDF agree to ceasefire as US says IS group fight largely over

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has now given the Kurds until January 24 to propose a plan for the peaceful integration of Rojava into the Syrian state.

Are the Kurds' gains in autonomy and sovereignty over the last few years now disintegrating?

Adel Bakawan, director of the European Institute for Studies on the Middle East and North Africa (EISMENA) and author of "La Décomposition du Moyen-Orient. Trois ruptures qui ont fait basculer l'Histoire” (“The Decomposition of the Middle East: Three Breakdowns that Changed History”) explains.

FRANCE 24: Why have Syria’s Kurds been cornered so successfully by Sharaa?

During the Syrian civil war from 2011-2014, around 105 different groups were fighting, sometimes against each other.

This is when Daesh [also known as the Islamic State group] emerged from a split with al Qaeda. The United States and Europe chose to train and support the Kurds so that they could lead the fight against Daesh.

In doing so, the SDF advanced as far as Raqqa and Deir Ezzor – zones controlled by Arab tribes.

When Sharaa took power on December 8, 2024, it was thanks to his network in the Gulf: Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey.

When he visited Riyadh, [Saudi leader] Mohammed bin Salman convinced [US President] Donald Trump to normalise relations with Syria, lifting sanctions and integrating it into the international coalition against Daesh.

The SDF no longer held the card of fighting against Daesh, and when the new Syrian state was integrated into the international coalition, the Kurds also had to hand over control of prisons holding thousands of Daesh leaders and militants.

READ MOREUS begins transfer of up to 7,000 IS group detainees from Syria to Iraq

Next, the Americans asked the Arab tribes that were integrated in the Kurd’s autonomous administration in north-east Syria to cut their ties with the SDF and to join Sharaa’s new army. The Kurds could not wage war against their former allies and the Syrian army, so the cities they were holding fell very quickly.

Finally, the Kurds lost control of the oil and gas fields that had financed their economy, and dams that were very important for geostrategy and geopolitics.

What room for manoeuvre do the Kurds have now?

They don’t have much leverage, except through Iraqi Kurdistan, with whom they have had disagreements throughout the 13 years of Rojava’s governance.

READ MOREKurds march in Iraqi Kurdistan against Syrian government takeover of minority

Thanks to strong international lobbying, Donald Trump picked up the telephone to tell Sharaa not to enter Rojava, the historic Kurdish territory.

Kurdish fighters have now left Aleppo and Raqqa. Clashes there did not spark a war – although the Kurds do still have a very powerful army. It’s a trained and armed ideological organisation, which will not surrender. And that is a means of exerting pressure.

What does the future hold for Rojava? Is it the end of the Kurds' dream of their own state?

We are entering into a grey area. It was predictable that the US would drop the Kurds, and we foresaw that. The Kurds in Rojava have also been abandoned by Israel – even though Israel has helped the Druze.

READ MOREDeadly clashes in Damascus plunge Syria's Druze minority into uncertainty

Israel will not intervene to defend the Kurds against the Syrian army now that Israel and Syria are normalising their relations.

It’s an existential question. In 2017, as they were coming out of a war with Daesh, the Iraqi Kurds played a major role in toppling the caliphate in Mosul and organised a referendum on independence for Iraqi Kurdistan.

Iraq’s Kurds voted 93 percent in favour, but the international community was fiercely opposed, and all the territories were recovered.

In 2019, when the Syrian Kurds were at the height of their powers in Afrin, a very strategic location for them, the Americans gave the green light for pro-Turkish militia organisations to occupy the city. It was a tragic blow for the Kurds.

Is it the end of the dream of independence? There are 50-60 million Kurds, making them the largest people in the Middle East without their own state. How can you stabilise and secure the Middle East when you have 60 million people that have been betrayed and abandoned?

If the international community wants to secure and stabilise the region there must be a Palestinian state and a Kurdish state.

And as the dream of independence has become fragile in Rojava, it has become much more plausible in Iraqi Kurdistan.

What impact will this have on Turkey and its peace process with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)?

[PKK leader] Abdullah Ocalan sent a letter to the group from prison asking it to disband, put down its weapons and stop demanding Kurdish independence, federalism, autonomy and even decentralisation.

Its goal is now to fight for a democratic society in Turkey.

The Turks believe this applies to not only the PKK in Turkey but also its branches in Iraq, Syria and Iran – but Abdullah Ocalan has not clearly stated a position on this.

READ MOREPKK fighters destroy weapons at key ceremony in Iraqi Kurdistan

Turkey has strongly encouraged and supported Sharaa’s offensive into territory controlled by the Kurds, while asking that he integrates the Kurds into the new Syria.

But for Turkey to implement its grand strategy across the Middle East, it needs to foster a relationship of “eternal brotherhood” with the Kurds.

Turkey, 20 years ago, did all it could to undermine the regional government in Kurdistan. Today its greatest ally in the region is the Kurdistan regional government in Iraq.

The West has for years relied on the Kurds to fight Daesh. Can the Syrian army really take over this fight?

Sharaa has renounced his former radical beliefs. He is pragmatic and knows how the international arena works. A Qatari communication firm has been helping him with everything from the choice of his suits to trimming his beard.

What interests me is his militant base that must now wage war against Daesh, the Kurds, the Alawites and the Druze.

Sharaa abandoned al Qaeda for Daesh and created its Syrian branch with authorisation from the caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. And his militant base has absolutely not changed.

When I analyse videos, accounts and speeches on the ground I don’t really see a big difference between the Daesh of 2014 and 2019. Their entire lives are shaped by radical ideology.

For example, they still associate the Kurds with pigs and heretics who must be killed. It’s exactly the same ideology as before.

READ MOREFears mount for Syria’s minorities as video emerges showing rebel fighters executing suspects

Personally, I think that the international community will regret transferring the fight against Daesh from the SDF to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham [HTS, the Islamist rebel group directed by Sharaa during the war]. How can he control his militant base?

Beyond this, the new Syrian army, which has been entrusted with the fight against Daesh, is not homogenous.

There were around 500 armed groups fighting against Bashar al-Assad. Their loyalty ranges from the Syrian state, to Turkey, to Saudi Arabia. So, it’s a very, very risky gamble.

This article was adapted from the original in French by Joanna York.

Syria’s al-Sharaa meets Putin as Moscow seeks to secure military bases

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the Kremlin / SANA

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By bna Cairo bureau January 28, 2026

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the Kremlin on January 28 during the Syrian leader's official visit to Moscow.

Al-Sharaa’s aircraft landed at Vnukovo International Airport, where he was received by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin before being delivered to the Kremlin to meet with the Russian leader, where he exchanged pleasantries.

Putin congratulated al-Sharaa on what he described as the leadership in Damascus's efforts to preserve Syria’s unity.

“Relations with Syria have deep roots,” Putin said, expressing his keenness to expand economic and trade cooperation with Damascus. adding that "the return of areas east of the Euphrates to Syrian state authority represents an important step in strengthening Syria’s territorial unity."

“Russia was ready to participate in Syria’s reconstruction, reiterating Moscow’s support for the country’s territorial integrity,” Putin added.

 Al-Sharaa welcomed Russia’s stance, praising what he called Moscow’s “positive position on Syria’s unity” and voicing hope for continued Russian support. 

He said there were “many shared issues that the two countries can work on together,” adding that Syria had overcome numerous obstacles over the past year. Ahead of the visit, the Kremlin said, “Relations with Syria are developing actively after the change of regime,” signalling continued engagement between Moscow and Damascus.

According to the Kremlin, Putin and al-Sharaa will discuss the future of Russian forces in Syria, economic cooperation and the broader regional situation. In an earlier statement, the Kremlin said the two sides intended to review “the current situation and prospects for developing bilateral relations in various fields, as well as the situation in the Middle East.”

Asked about the fate of ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, who is in Russia, the Kremlin declined to comment.

The visit will be al-Sharaa’s second to Moscow. He last travelled to the Russian capital on October 15, 2025, when he met Putin at the Kremlin.

Since Assad’s removal, Damascus under al-Sharaa has adopted a conciliatory tone towards Moscow. Weeks after Assad’s fall, Russia sent officials to Damascus, followed by al-Sharaa’s October visit to Moscow, where he received a warm reception from Putin.

Russia is seeking to secure the future of its naval base in Tartous and its Hmeimim air base, its only military facilities outside the former Soviet Union. The two bases remain a prominent and sensitive issue in political debate in both countries.

Ahead of the latest visit, Russia’s foreign ministry reiterated its respect for Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, commenting on developments in northern and eastern Syria and clashes involving the Syrian Democratic Forces.

Earlier reports said that Russia has begun withdrawing military equipment and personnel from its base at Qamishli airport in northeast Syria, in what appears to be preparations for a full evacuation of the site.

Qamishli airport has been one of Russia’s most prominent military footholds in northeastern Syria since 2015, serving as a logistical and military hub following Moscow’s intervention in the conflict at the request of the Assad government.

Mass arrests and executions: Kurds in Iran bear the brunt of war with Israel

As Iranian forces crack down on Kurdish regions in the wake of the war with Israel, locals face arrests, executions and rising repression, with activists and analysts warning of deepening isolation and a broader struggle for democratic change

Lior Ben Ari|

Ynetnews

The war with Israel has deeply affected the lives of Kurds in Iran. Kurdish regions made headlines during the war, primarily because they lie along the country’s western border—seen as a gateway for Israeli strikes. Following the outbreak of war, the regime began arresting Kurds for allegedly aiding Israel.

Razaneh, a Kurdish international relations researcher who lived in Iran until 2020 and now resides in Europe, spoke to Ynet about the complex situation facing Iran’s Kurdish population and the impact of the recent war. “Under the Islamic Republic, the Kurdish population numbers between 9 and 12 million, representing 12–17 percent of Iran’s total population,” she said.

Kurds in Iran are concentrated in the northwest, in the region of Iranian Kurdistan, which also spans northern Iraq, southeastern Turkey and northeastern Syria. “Most Iranian Kurds live in the western provinces,” Razaneh explained, citing Kurdistan, Kermanshah, West Azerbaijan, Ilam and Lorestan, with smaller communities in northeastern Khorasan. They speak various Kurdish dialects. Most are Sunni Muslims, though there are also Shiite Kurds and followers of other faiths.

“Kurds in eastern Kurdistan (Iran), like others across Kurdistan, are generally not radical in their religious outlook,” she noted. “Most are more secular in their lifestyles and beliefs. The Kurdish political parties are not religious and tend to adopt leftist or social-

Razaneh noted that during times of crisis—such as the war with Israel or the 2022 mass protests in the wake of Mahsa Amini’s killing—a sense of shared identity arises among Kurds that often sparks calls for unity and solidarity across the four parts of Kurdistan. However, she added, tensions persist among Kurds in Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria, with differences in ideological goals—some advocating federalism, others independence.

Mahsa Amini
(Photo: Getty Images Europe /Leon Neal)


Iraqi Kurds protesting the death of Mahsa Amini
(Photo: AFP)

She also highlighted that some Iranian Kurds have connections with diaspora communities in Europe and the U.S. These communities play a vital role in raising awareness of Kurdish issues, organizing protests and engaging with foreign governments.

Friends to all peoples in the Middle East

During the Israel–Iran war, Iranian military sites in Kurdish-populated areas — including missile storage and launch facilities — were targeted. Those tracking Persian-language reports and Iran’s air defense activity could clearly follow the strikes.
According to Razaneh, Tehran also carried out multiple military operations in these regions, especially near the border — a move she says helped the regime tighten its grip on eastern Kurdistan.


Kurds celebrate Yalda Night in Tehran
(Photo: AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

“Some of the Israeli targets included military bases in Kurdish cities such as Mahabad, Kermanshah and Urmia,” she told Ynet. “Security oversight increased, as did arrests by the Iranian government. Following the start of the war, the regime became stricter in Kurdish areas, arresting hundreds for alleged cooperation or spying with Israel. At least three Kurdish men were executed in Urmia,” she added, also noting “new checkpoints and house and phone searches were deployed.”

“Exiled Kurdish parties in northern Iraq watched the war closely,” Razaneh said. “Some, like the PAK, saw it as an opportunity to strike back at the Iranian regime. Others, like Komala, urged restraint and patience. Many Kurds inside Iran hope the war will lead to future change.”

Kurds in Iran remain almost unable to communicate directly with Israeli officials or media — especially now — but one source in Sanandaj, Karwan (a pseudonym), told Ynet: “[Economically, socially and in terms of security,] the recent Iran–Israel conflict has directly affected all Iranians, including Kurds. In recent weeks, prices of basic goods have skyrocketed, widespread arrests have surged and death sentences and executions have increased. Iranian cities have become heavily militarized, with arbitrary arrest measures intensifying.”


Kurds in Iran
(Photo: AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Karwan said Iran has used the allegation of “collaboration with the enemy” to justify its crackdown. “Iranians, including Kurds, aspire to democratic change in their country. Kurds see themselves as friends to all peoples in the Middle East and hope for free, dignified and peaceful lives for all its inhabitants.” He added that Kurdish regions have long been neglected due to Iran’s centralizing policies.

On Kurdish political activity, Karwan observed: “Because of high political awareness and organization in these territories, they have historically been centers of pro-democracy and freedom-driven movements — and are thus subjected to heavy security repression. Kurdish activists frequently face threats of arrest, imprisonment or execution.”

Halabja: In Remembrance of the Tragedy of the  Iraqi Kurds


By:Azad Berweriye
TiL
Date: March 2, 2025

A dead Kurdish man protecting his child during the poison gas attack by Saddam Hussein’s forces in 1988 in Halabja, Iraqi Kurdistan. 

Photo: Archive/no credit

Azad Berwerîye | Exclusive to The Insight International

The Kurdish nation is no stranger to tragedy. Even now, while the protestors at Tishreen Dam suffer casualties in the name of Rojava’s defense and the Kurds suffer from cultural repression beneath the boots of the governments oppressing them, suffering is a daily routine for Kurdish existence.

The Kurds have always endured and continue to endure mistreatment at the hands of powers that view them as obstacles to their goals of domination, seeing their lives and identity as disposable and insignificant as ants.

While the Kurds have received more coverage regarding their struggle for survival, the extent to which they endured massacres is still in need of more attention, with little mention in international media.

It makes the Kurdish saying, “The Kurds have no friends but the mountains,” ring valid in the hearts of most Kurds, suffering in isolation while the rest of the world does little to listen to their plight.

No other massacre demonstrates this more poignantly than the Halabja Massacre, which occurred on March 16, 1988. In this massacre, Saddam Hussein ordered the use of chemical weapons in the town of Halabja, with his army launching poison gas against the city.

The attack is the largest use of chemical weapons toward civilians in modern history, resulting in 5,000 casualties in the region. Due to these attacks, Halabja and surrounding areas still suffer from polluted water and soil. There is also a higher risk of cancer and infertility in the region

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Dead bodies in the aftermath of the Chemical attack in Halabja, Iraqi Kurdistan, March 16, 1988. Photo: SM/Archive

The attack was one of many in Saddam’s Anfal campaign. Following the Ba’ath regime’s killing of 8,000 Kurds from the Barzanis in 1983, the Anfal campaign against the Kurds began in February 1988. It ended in September of that same year, destroying over 3,000 Kurdish villages and resulting in around 150,000-180,000 people dead.

Many of them were in mass graves, and there are still reports of people missing from the results of the genocide. The basis for these attacks was that, during the Persian Gulf War, the Kurds allied themselves with Iran to gain autonomy from the Ba’ath regime, which had previously limited their jurisdiction.

Since Iran was Iraq’s enemy during the war, on top of the Ba’ath regime’s Arabization policies, the government used the war as an excuse to carry out mass killings against the Kurds, calling them collaborators with the enemy. Even the name of the campaign, “the Spoils” in Arabic, named after the eighth sura of the Koran, showcases the intent of the regime to reduce the Kurds to nothing more than people to exploit for their political gain.

The residents of Halabja would bear the arguably biggest brunt of these attacks. The Iraqi military launched chemicals consisting of mustard gas, Sarin, and Tabun, resulting in the deaths of many Halabja residents.

Women, children, and older people consisted of 75% of the victims of the attacks. The attacks led to the destruction of several residential areas and many fleeing outside the city to Iran and adjacent regions. Most of them never came back.

Dead bodies after the Chemical attack in Halabja, Iraqi Kurdistan, March 16, 1988. Photo: SM/Archive/via Ekurd.net

Despite Southern Kurdistan achieving semi-autonomy under the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), recognition of and justice for the horrors the victims faced in Halabja is limited. For instance, while the High Tribunal and Supreme Court of Iraq acknowledged the Anfal campaign as a genocide after Saddam Hussein’s execution, they have not given the same recognition to the Halabja massacre.

Saddam did receive his death sentence based on the Anfal campaign as his crime, but the Iraqi government did not list the Halabja massacre as one of his crimes. Even in Europe, where politicians like Bernard Kouchner from France raised attention to the killings at the time, not all countries have acknowledged what happened at Halabja.

Chemical attack on Kurdish civilians in Halabja, Iraqi Kurdistan 1988. Photo: Archive

It adds insult to injury, knowing that even international attention towards the event at the time was negligible. Due to the West’s backing of Saddam Hussein’s war against Iran at the time, they voiced no criticisms of Saddam’s actions to maintain relations with them against what they perceived to be an enemy to the West.

The Halabja victims were and continue to be without a voice or any kind of acknowledgment, their struggles unending, and any cries for justice only reaching the void.

The Halabja massacre is not the only tragedy that the Kurds have suffered to this extent. Similar massacres against Kurds have happened in the past and continue to the present day. They’re almost too similar to the devastation of the Halabja massacre and the lack of recognition these massacres have received. It’s too reflective of the overall issues the Kurds face as a people today

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Turkish Dersim genocide against Kurds. Photo: Courtesy/wikipedia

One particular massacre that showcases this struggle is the Dersim Massacre, which the Turkish state carried out against the Kurdish Alevis in Dersim. After the establishment of the Turkish Republic around the early 20th century, Turkey adopted a Turkification policy towards different ethnicities, suppressing their language and culture.

This policy was ruthless towards Kurds and Alevis, who staged revolts against the government to achieve cultural rights, the Turkish state killing many of them and their leaders in the process. This pattern of revolt and suppression ultimately led to the Turkish military carrying out the Dersim Massacre between 1937-1938, where they bombarded the town.

The result was the death of around 30,000 Alevis, with a potential count of closer to 70,000. The Turkish State described this event as a “pacification” and “a mission of civilization” until Recep Tayyip Erdogan apologized for the massacre in 2009.

Over 14,000 thousand Kurds were killed in the Dersim massacre. Photo: Haberpan

Despite this acknowledgment, the Alevis still suffer from persecution under the Turkish government with its policies against Kurdish culture and language, on top of policies particular to Alevis. On top of the criminalization of Kurdish identity, the Turkish state uses religious education (RE) courses to enforce Sunnification in Turkey’s borders.

The government enforces a pro-Sunni Turkish identity in the schools, excluding the Alevis and Kurdish culture. Alevi students often endure mistreatment from students and teachers because of this. On top of the massacres against them in Dersim and similar policies in the 60s, such as the Turkish state building mosques in Alevi villages to enforce Sunni Islam onto them, these educational policies only finish what the Turkish state had already started with the Dersim Massacre, a policy whose aims were the ethnocide of the Kurds and Alevis

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Pro-Turkey Syrian Islamic mercenary fighters execute 9 civilians Kurds including senior Syrian Kurdish political leader Hevrin Khalaf in Syrian Kurdistan, October 12, 2019. Photo: SM

Rojava also knows full well the intensity of suffering from massacres against them from oppressors. When Turkey captured the city in its “Operation Olive Branch,” carried out by its proxies, the Syrian National Army (SNA) in January 2018, they subjected the city to drastic displacement changes and tightened control.

For instance, after the invasion, Turkey resettled Sunni Arab refugees into Kurdish homes after the Kurds fled the invasion and continued similar trends into 2019 with their military actions between Tel Abyad and Ras al-Ain. Due to these resettlements, the Kurdish population dropped from 80-90% before the invasion to around 25% as of 2022.

The SNA has also arbitrarily arrested/kidnapped 8,696 people, with a third of the people’s whereabouts unknown. The city became a haven of thugs and corruption, in contrast to the democratic society that existed before the Turkish invasion.

Pro-Turkey Syrian mercenary FSA Islamic fighter are looting in the Kurdish city of Afrin in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava), March 18, 2018. Photo: AFP

It is atrocities like this that make it crucial always to remember the Halabja massacre. The Halabja massacre reflects not only the tragedy of the people who had to endure this massacre but also the struggles of other Kurds throughout Kurdistan.

The lack of justice against the perpetrators of the Halabja massacre is the same as the lack of accountability towards Turkey for its mistreatment of Kurdish Alevis after the Dersim massacre. The cries of Halabja’s victims echo the moans of former Afrin residents to return to their homes in freedom and for their perpetrators to bear the weight of their atrocities. Any atrocity against a group of Kurds is a wound on the whole of Kurdistan, despite whatever borders exist between the four parts of Kurdistan.

People walk through debris in the center of the Kurdish town of Afrin in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava), on March 18, 2018 Turkish troops supporting pro-Turkey Syrian mercenary FSA fighters drove the Kurdish YPG forces out of Afrin, over hundred thousand Kurds leave the Afrin Canton. March 24, 2018. Photo: Reuters

As Rojava’s fate is uncertain with the new HTS administration in Syria and the results of the peace talks between Ocalan and Turkey still unknown, it is crucial now more than ever to remember these massacres.

Doing so reminds us of why the Kurdish movement exists today and how their existence is at stake without it. They are reminders of how the division of the Kurds by the governments ruling them has hurt them and how important it is for the Kurds to stick together united to protect each other from similar events.

As the Halabja massacre nears its 37th anniversary on March 16, 2025, we grieve the loss of life from this attack. We remember that the injustice of the victims of this attack, and others like it, still exists. We remember that injustice for massacres doesn’t stop with autonomy or that memory of the event is unlimited from just a single acknowledgment. We remember that fighting against injustice is a constant battle.

We remember the Halabja Massacre to continue that fight.

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Caleb Fox (Azad Berwari) is a Kurdish speaker and the author of the cultural blog Dengê Çiyayên: Voice of the Mountains, where he explores Kurdish culture, language, and heritage.

The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.

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