Turkey’s PKK Peace Commission Adopts a Disarmament Framework and a Regional Doctrine
Turkey’s parliamentary peace commission, established to chart a political and legal path out of the decades-long conflict with the PKK, adopted…
Mazloum Abdi at Munich: What It Was, and What It Was Not
Mazloum Abdi’s participation in the Munich Security Conference mattered, but it must be understood within its proper context. Inflating its…
What the SDF-Damascus Deal Really Says About Kurdish Autonomy
As more details of the SDF-Damascus agreement become available, the contours of the deal can be summarised in five points:…
Written by
Arivan
How Turkey Turned the Smelka Crossing Into One of the Middle East’s Most Surveilled Borders
As intermittent clashes in Syria’s Hasakah province move closer to Al-Jawadiyah (known in Kurdish as Çil Axa), a key route connecting the Smelka border crossing between Iraq’s Kurdistan Region and…
Read More (3 min. read)
Written by
Arivan
Syrian Kurdish Leaders Say They Were Promised One Thing. The Deal Says Another.
As the Syrian army advances toward Hasakah city and presses deeper toward Syria’s core Kurdish areas, the SDF is increasingly on the diplomatic defensive. Its leadership is being pushed toward…
Read More (3 min. read)
Written by
Arivan
Syrian Army Presses Toward Tabqa as SDF Seeks U.S. Lifeline in Erbil
The Syrian army is continuing its westward pressure on SDF-held Tabqa, the last Kurdish-controlled pocket west of the Euphrates, after the SDF withdrew from the Deir Hafir–Maskanah salient in eastern…
Read More (3 min. read)
Written by
Arivan
Damascus Won Aleppo. The Next Battle Could Decide the SDF’s Fate.
The Syrian government’s victory in Aleppo should not be underestimated. The Sheikh Maqsoud–Ashrafieh pocket, previously controlled by SDF-backed security forces, was a major urban settlement where an estimated 300,000 to…
Read More (3 min. read)
Written by
Arivan
The Iran Protest Wave’s Surprise Epicenter: Shi’a Kurdish Ilam
As the January 2026 Iran protest wave continues, after first erupting on 28 December 2025, some of the largest protests and sharpest violence have concentrated in Ilam province and, to…
Read More (3 min. read)
Written by
Arivan
As the SDF Integration Deadline Nears, the Leaks Tell the Real Story
As the year-end deadline for SDF integration into the HTS-led Syrian army looms, a war of leaks is sweeping the media. This comes amid reports of an expected, US-pushed visit…
Read More (3 min. read)
Written by
Arivan
Turkey’s Legal Reforms Due by Late February as PKK Gara–Hakurk Pullout Is Expected to Follow
The Turkish parliament’s peace commission has extended its work through the end of February—aimed at advancing legal reforms—amid Turkish media reporting that a PKK evacuation from the Gara and Hakurk…
Read More (3 min. read)