About: Kurds
How Turkey spoiled NATO’s historic moment with Finland, Sweden
When Finland and Sweden signalled they were thinking of making the historic decision joining NATO, the alliance expected a tough response from Moscow, not from one of its own.
Erdogan says Turkey, Israel can jointly bring gas to Europe
Turkey and Israel can work together to carry Israeli natural gas to Europe and the two countries will discuss energy cooperation during talks next month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was quoted as saying on Friday (4 February).
Iraq says almost 4,000 repatriated from Belarus borders
Baghdad has repatriated almost 4,000 of its citizens stuck on the Belarus borders with European Union members Poland, Lithuania and Latvia in recent weeks, Iraq's foreign minister said Sunday (16 January).
Interview: Why did so many Kurds go to Belarus?
Political disillusionment, lack of economic opportunities and dreams of a better life are reasons why many asylum seekers that enter Lithuania from Belarus originate from Iraqi Kurdistan, a region considered one of the wealthiest and most stable in the region.
Erdogan threatens to expel 10 Western envoys
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Thursday (21 October) threatened to expel the US, German and eight other Western ambassadors after they issued a rare joint statement in support of a jailed civil society leader.
Turkey plans military action against Syrian Kurdish YPG if diplomacy fails
Turkey is preparing for possible further military action against a US-backed Kurdish militia in northern Syria if talks on the issue with the United States and Russia fail, two Turkish officials said.Putin meets Assad, takes swipe at US and Turkish forces in Syria
Russian President Vladimir Putin received his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad for the first time since 2018 and criticised foreign forces that are in Syria without permission or a UN mandate - a rebuke of the United States and Turkey.
Baghdad to Lithuania: How Belarus opened new migration route to EU
Days after Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko threatened to flood Europe with migrants, dozens of mostly Iraqi Kurds started arriving in Lithuania. In a cross-border investigation spanning Lithuania, Belarus and Iraq, EURACTIV's media partner LRT.lt digs into the new migrant smuggling scheme.
Turkey frees journalist Altan after European rights court ruling
A Turkish court on Wednesday (14 April) released journalist and novelist Ahmet Altan after more than four years in prison on charges of involvement in a failed 2016 coup attempt that he had always denied.
EU chiefs press Erdogan on rights while stressing better ties
The European Union's top two officials on Tuesday (6 April) expressed deep worries about human rights in Turkey while voicing hope for stronger ties in their first meeting in a year with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Jailed Kurdish leader calls on Turkish opposition to unite against Erdogan
Former pro-Kurdish party leader Selahattin Demirtaş, jailed since 2016 despite Western calls for his release, said the Turkish opposition should unite against rising oppression and moves to divide them, including a court case to ban his party.
EU ‘deeply concerned’ over crackdown on pro-Kurdish party, Turkey rebuffs criticism
Turkey on Thursday (18 March) told foreign countries to keep out of its domestic affairs after Western powers uniformly condemned its bid to shut down the main pro-Kurdish party.
Turkey moves to ban pro-Kurdish HDP party
Turkey's pro-Kurdish party was fighting for its political survival on Wednesday (17 March) after a prosecutor asked the country's top court to shut it down for alleged links to militants waging a deadly insurgency against the state.
‘Peace more powerful than war’, Pope Francis says in Iraq’s ruined city of Mosul
Pope Francis heard Muslim and Christian residents in the ruined Iraqi city of Mosul tell of their lives under brutal Islamic State rule, blessing their vow to rise up from ashes and promising them “fraternity is more durable than fratricide.”
Facing Biden, Erdogan extends olive branch to EU
Facing a potentially hostile US administration, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is trying to break his isolation by mending EU relations, torn by what the bloc views as his bellicose foreign policy.
Turkish FM says the EU has ‘over-politicised’ accession negotiations
The EU has “excessively politicised” the negotiations between Ankara and Brussels, Turkey’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu told EURACTIV’s partner EFE in a written interview, calling on the bloc to take a more positive approach. He reiterated his country’s...
Erdogan slams European rights court’s ruling in support of Kurdish leader
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday (23 December) blasted the top European rights court's call for Turkey to release Kurdish political leader Selahattin Demirtaş after four years in jail.
A Biden administration is bad news for Turkey’s Erdogan
Donald Trump’s lackadaisical approach to Turkey's President Recep Erdoğan gave him an opening for an aggressive and revisionist set of policies that pushed the boundaries of Turkey’s relations with America and Europe, writes Henri J Barkey.
Austria to file charges against Turkish spy
Austria will file charges against a person who has confessed to spying for Turkey's secret service, and authorities are investigating more suspected espionage activities, its interior minister said, warning Turkey this would not be tolerated.
German government criticises Turkey’s Syria invasion
The Turkish invasion into the Kurdish region lacked "legitimacy under international law". Berlin's development ministry wants to help in northern Syria because of COVID-19. EURACTIV's media partner Der Tagesspiegel reports.
Turkey, Austria trade barbs over Kurdish-Turkish clashes in Vienna
Austria and Turkey accused each other on Monday (29 June) of responding inappropriately to clashes between Kurdish and Turkish protesters in Vienna last week, further straining relations.
Erdogan is bullying Europe because Trump gave him the green light
The show which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is playing now with the migrant crisis is, to a great extent, the result of the green light he got from Trump last October when the US troops withdrew from Syria.
Turkey says will not stop Syrian refugees reaching Europe after troops killed
Turkey will no longer stop Syrian refugees from reaching Europe, a senior Turkish official said, as Ankara responded on Friday (28 February) to the killing of 33 Turkish soldiers in an air strike by Syrian government forces in Syria's northwestern Idlib region.