Kurdish Leaders

A Turkish court on Thursday sentenced an ex-leader of the pro-Kurdish HDP party to 42 years in prison for his alleged role in deadly 2014 protests that erupted as Islamic State group jihadists overran the Syrian town of Kobane.

Iraq's federal court has deemed an oil and gas law regulating the oil industry in Iraqi Kurdistan unconstitutional and demanded that Kurdish authorities hand over their crude supplies.

Syria's Kurdish forces said they expected revenge attacks by the ISIS group following the US announcement Sunday that the terrorist organisation's leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had been killed.

The EU is very concerned by Turkey's arrest of leaders and MPs from the country's main pro-Kurdish party and has contacted Ankara on the issue, the bloc's foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini said Friday.

ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been hiding in the group's besieged stronghold of Mosul, encircled by the Iraqi army and allied militias, a senior Kurdish commander told the Independent daily.

Turkey's main pro-Kurdish party strongly opposes the failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan but will keep up its opposition to the "oppression" of the Turkish strongman, its leader says.

Clashes erupted in southeast Turkey on Monday after a rally to mark 17 years since the arrest of Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan.

The leader of Turkey's pro-Kurdish opposition said conflict in the country's largely Kurdish southeast had grown into an international problem, feeding into war in neighbouring Syria, and urged allies to do more to push for a ceasefire.

Carrying hundreds of flags in the red, orange and green of the PKK and pictures of the group's leader Abdullah Ocalan, the demonstrators marched to the site of the killings, where flowers had been laid in memory of the dead.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov today hosted Turkey's pro-Kurdish party leader Selahattin Demirtas for talks on the Syrian conflict and Moscow's potential support for Kurdish groups fighting ISIS.

The prominent co-chairman of Turkey's main pro-Kurdish party was targeted by an assassination attempt while travelling in his official vehicle but escaped unharmed, the party said today.

Turkey wants world leaders to discuss the conflicts in Syria and Iraq at a G20 summit this weekend and is ready to take "stronger steps" in the region following its general election, President Tayyip Erdogan said today.

Selahattin Demirtas, the charismatic leader of Turkey's pro-Kurdish party, remains the biggest thorn in the side of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after managing to hold onto his HDP's cherished parliamentary representation, against considerable odds.

The apparent dragging of the corpse of an alleged Kurdish militant through the streets of a Turkish city by security forces has outraged activists, with the main Kurdish party leader calling on the interior minister to resign.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets EU leaders Monday but they will find it hard to bridge gaps on the migrant crisis and the Syrian war that has produced so many of the refugees they must both deal with, analysts say.

A Turkish court on Thursday sentenced an ex-leader of the pro-Kurdish HDP party to 42 years in prison for his alleged role in deadly 2014 protests that erupted as Islamic State group jihadists overran the Syrian town of Kobane.

Iraq's federal court has deemed an oil and gas law regulating the oil industry in Iraqi Kurdistan unconstitutional and demanded that Kurdish authorities hand over their crude supplies.

Syria's Kurdish forces said they expected revenge attacks by the ISIS group following the US announcement Sunday that the terrorist organisation's leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had been killed.

The EU is very concerned by Turkey's arrest of leaders and MPs from the country's main pro-Kurdish party and has contacted Ankara on the issue, the bloc's foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini said Friday.

ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been hiding in the group's besieged stronghold of Mosul, encircled by the Iraqi army and allied militias, a senior Kurdish commander told the Independent daily.

Turkey's main pro-Kurdish party strongly opposes the failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan but will keep up its opposition to the "oppression" of the Turkish strongman, its leader says.

Clashes erupted in southeast Turkey on Monday after a rally to mark 17 years since the arrest of Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan.

The leader of Turkey's pro-Kurdish opposition said conflict in the country's largely Kurdish southeast had grown into an international problem, feeding into war in neighbouring Syria, and urged allies to do more to push for a ceasefire.

Carrying hundreds of flags in the red, orange and green of the PKK and pictures of the group's leader Abdullah Ocalan, the demonstrators marched to the site of the killings, where flowers had been laid in memory of the dead.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov today hosted Turkey's pro-Kurdish party leader Selahattin Demirtas for talks on the Syrian conflict and Moscow's potential support for Kurdish groups fighting ISIS.

The prominent co-chairman of Turkey's main pro-Kurdish party was targeted by an assassination attempt while travelling in his official vehicle but escaped unharmed, the party said today.

Turkey wants world leaders to discuss the conflicts in Syria and Iraq at a G20 summit this weekend and is ready to take "stronger steps" in the region following its general election, President Tayyip Erdogan said today.

Selahattin Demirtas, the charismatic leader of Turkey's pro-Kurdish party, remains the biggest thorn in the side of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after managing to hold onto his HDP's cherished parliamentary representation, against considerable odds.

The apparent dragging of the corpse of an alleged Kurdish militant through the streets of a Turkish city by security forces has outraged activists, with the main Kurdish party leader calling on the interior minister to resign.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets EU leaders Monday but they will find it hard to bridge gaps on the migrant crisis and the Syrian war that has produced so many of the refugees they must both deal with, analysts say.