Turkey’s military has kept up deadly attacks in Syria and Iraq on fighters linked to the Kurdish insurgent group P.K.K. in the two weeks since the movement’s founder called on his followers to lay down their arms and disband. The P.K.K. leadership, which is based in the Qandil Mountains of Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region, responded…
In the Syrian capital, Damascus, the country’s new leader has hosted a national unity conference and welcomed foreign dignitaries as crowds gather at cafes, speaking out freely for the first time in decades. But 400 miles away in northeastern Syria, a region beyond the control of the Damascus government, battles that have been going on…
The Kurdish guerrilla group that has been fighting a long-running insurgency against Turkey declared a cease-fire on Saturday, days after a call from its jailed leader to disarm and disband the organization which raised hopes of ending a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people over four decades. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or…
By seeking a peace deal with Kurdish militants, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey is attempting something momentous that not only aims to end 40 years of violent insurgency inside Turkey but envisions ambitious change across the region. The call on Thursday by Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or P.K.K.,…
Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of a Kurdish guerrilla movement that has been waging a bloody insurgency against the Turkish state for decades, has called on his fighters to lay down their arms and disband. The rare message from Mr. Ocalan on Thursday raised the possibility that a conflict that has killed more than 40,000…
As the commander of a rebel group allied with Al Qaeda during Syria’s long civil war, the man known by his nom du guerre, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, welcomed foreign jihadists, dispatched suicide bombers to blow up military posts and vowed to create an Islamic state. A decade ago, he told a journalist that Muslims should…
Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Shara, is expected to discuss the future of Syria-Turkey relations on Tuesday during a meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey. The meeting in the Turkish capital, Ankara, will be Mr. Erdogan’s first with Mr. al-Shara, the rebel leader who led the opposition offensive that toppled Syria’s former autocratic leader,…