How the Strikes on Iraq’s Militias Followed the Country’s Divide
The pattern that emerged in the strikes on pro-Iran Iraqi militias between February 28 and March 11 was striking not…
A Sanctioned Broker, an Iranian Intelligence Link, and the Barzani Company Between Them
Court filings, leaked records, and UK and EU sanctions designations are building a picture of how a Barzani-linked financial system…
What happens to PKK strongholds in the Kurdistan Region after the PKK vacates them?
One year after Abdullah Ocalan’s call to the PKK to disarm, the peace process has entered a phase in which…
Written by
Arivan
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 its landmark report on 18 February 2026, laying out an architecture…
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Written by
Arivan
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 significance risks pushing expectations beyond what the conference, or the…
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Written by
Arivan
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: 1. Integration and the Hasakah division. The text states that…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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