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Published by AL-Monitor
AL-Monitor Senior Correspondent Amberin Zaman interviews newsmakers, journalists, and thought leaders from the US and Middle East about the latest news and trends in the region. Amberin travels the region for AL-Monitor, specializing in news and analysis in Turkey, Iraq, Syria, and the Caucasus and writes the weekly Turkey Briefing newsletter. Prior to AL-Monitor, she covered Turkey, the Kurds, and conflicts in the region for The Washington Post, The Daily Telegraph, The Los Angeles Times and the Voice of America, and was The Economist's Turkey correspondent from 1999 to 2016.
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Leading Turkish LGBTQ activist Yildiz Tar explains why Turkey's authoritarian government is escalating repression of their community. The crackdown has less to do with public morals than an effort to divert public attention away from soaring inflation, poverty and joblessness, Tar notes. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Banu Guven, a widely respected TV presenter, became the first Turkish journalist to host Kurdish leader Mazlum Kobane on national TV in Turkey. Until recently, interviewing the former commander of the now dissolved Syrian Democratic Forces was a punishable offense. But with Kurdish peace talks underway in Turkey and the integration of Kurdish structures in Syria's northeast advancing, the mood has shifted. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Many Kurds across the region feel angered by the Aug. 25 announcement by Syrian Democratic Forces commander-in-chief Mazlum Kobane that the force has been formally dissolved. Ibrahim Hamidi, a veteran Syrian journalist and editor-in-chief of Al Majalla, argues that the push for Kurdish rights is by no means over, and that Kobane's new role as an advisor to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa will present the Kurds with fresh opportunities. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Tensions between Turkey and Israel have been spiraling over Gaza, the Eastern Mediterranean, the Horn of Africa and above all in Syria. Fears of a confrontation between the US allies grew this week after Israel bombed a military airport near the Turkish border, saying Turkish forces were about to move in. Israeli analyst Danny Citrinowicz believes that with no active deconfliction mechanism in place a hot clash is imminent if not inevitable. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
The mutual defense pact signed between the regional Muslim powers comes against the backdrop of the Iran war, which has hurt Gulf countries more than any others. Saudi Arabia's oil sales have plummeted. Its energy infrastructure is badly damaged. It hopes Turkey and Pakistan's help will deter further attacks from the Iran-backed Houthis as well. Iran scholar Hamidreza Azizi discusses what the pact means for Tehran and the region. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
The withdrawal of the last US troops from Erbil marks the end of an era in which the Kurds were the United States' closest ally in Iraq, says Victoria Taylor, former deputy assistant secretary of state for Iraq and Iran affairs. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Former Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri says Pakistan welcomes Saudi Arabia's nuclear agreement with the United States and says Pakistan is bound by its treaty obligations to defend the Kingdom should it come under attack. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Hansen, who spent more than a decade reporting from Turkey for The New York Times Magazine, is the author of a widely acclaimed new book on the country under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. She explains how his core supporters are feeling betrayed by the Turkish leader and how his reign might yet end. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Selim Koru, founder of the Kulturkampf Substack, argues that Turkey’s World Cup loss is emblematic of the failure of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s civilizational project and may prove to be a milestone in the unraveling of his 24-year reign. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
President Donald Trump sought Kurdish support in efforts to topple Iran’s regime, only to drop them like hot potatoes amid pressure from Turkey, a key NATO ally. Now, after signing a peace deal with Tehran, Trump has left Iran’s Kurds more isolated than ever. But Dutch scholar Wladimir van Wilgenburg says the agreement will not stop the Kurds from continuing their struggle for recognition and rights. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Tigran Grigoryan, director of the Center for Democracy and Security, a Yerevan-based think tank, argues that the road ahead for Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is fraught with risk. Pashinyan won by a wide margin in the June 7 election, but failed to clinch the super majority needed to push through peace with Turkey and Azerbaijan. Economic pressure from Russia is adding to his woes. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Somalia is home to Turkey’s largest overseas military base. It has signed an oil exploration and production deal with Ankara that has sparked protests from the opposition. The Middle East Institute’s Gonul Tol unpacks the drivers of Turkey’s Africa policy, noting that Turkish engagement comes at a cost. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Kurds in northeast Syria have suffered significant territorial and political setbacks, while Kurds in Turkey continue to lack meaningful rights. A growing number of Kurdish voices are blaming the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and its imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan for what they see as betrayal. However, Kurdish expert Aliza Marcus argues that such accusations overlook the broader regional and political context in which these losses have unfolded. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
With no resolution in sight, the conflict is taking a heavy toll on Saudi Arabia amid widening fissures with its Gulf neighbor the United Arab Emirates. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
The Iran conflict is entering its second month with no resolution, despite a ceasefire extension announced by the United States on April 8. Iranian negotiators follow Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, says academic Hassan Ahmadian, warning that continued US strikes on Iranian ships enforcing a Strait of Hormuz blockade could reignite the war. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Lebanon faces escalating violence and mounting displacement as Israeli airstrikes and Hezbollah rocket attacks intensify ahead of planned US-backed talks in Washington on April 14. I speak with Lebanese Culture Minister Ghassan Salame, who says Hezbollah disarmament by force is an illusion, warns the Washington meeting is not yet real negotiations, and cautions that continued escalation could further destabilize Lebanon. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” as the old adage goes — a logic Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, put into practice by offering his military’s expertise in countering Iranian drones to the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates during a regional tour that concluded Sunday, as the Atlantic Council’s Yevgeniya Gaber noted. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Iranian-American academic Vali Nasr says rising civilian deaths and the destruction of iconic sites such as the Qajar-era Golestan Palace are turning even the most anti-regime Iranians against the US‑Israeli war, which many now see as a threat to the nation itself. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
On Feb. 28, the first day of the war in Iran, at least 175 people — most of them children — were killed when a U.S. missile struck a girls’ school in Minab. Since then, the civilian death toll has steadily risen, turning even some of the regime’s most ardent critics against the conflict, according to Skylar Thompson, deputy director of Human Rights Activists in Iran. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Russia has close military and diplomatic ties with Iran but it also has cordial relations with Iran's foes, notably Israel. At the same time, it is bogged down by its own war with Ukraine. So how much actual assistance can it provide to Iran as it seeks to withstand Israel and the United States? Iranian American academic Nicole Grajewski unpacks the complexities. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .
Ranking source
Apple Podcasts rankings via the Mato Topic Intelligence Platform.
Observed September 15, 2026. Cached outside the daily freshness window; the positions keep the date they were taken on.
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