ISIS

The election in November 2024 of Donald Trump for a second presidential term in the White House was received with anxiety by people in the autonomous Kurdish enclave of Rojava. A month later, the secularist Arab nationalist regime of the Syrian President, Bashar Assad, fell to Islamist- leaning extremist groups. This transformative shift- which could […]

Syria today suffers from numerous afflictions, foremost among them the extreme poverty affecting the majority of Syrians, the collapse of basic services, lawlessness among militias, and their practices that amount to genocide. There are also violations of Syrian territory by neighboring countries, especially Israel, as well as conflicts arising from the post-Assad regime and the […]

Recent major changes and developments in the Middle East, particularly the collapse of the Syrian regime and its military and security apparatus, along with the Iranian withdrawal from Syria, have revitalized the hopes of ISIS. This situation has resulted in the disappearance of the military presence and structures of Iranian militias and local militias managed […]

On 22 January 2025, the Iraqi parliament passed a law known as the “General Amnesty Law,” which grants amnesty to detainees convicted or accused of various crimes, including fighting alongside armed groups and participating in operations and attacks targeting Iraqi forces, civilians, and U.S. forces. The amnesty law encompasses thousands of prisoners who were arrested […]

The active diplomatic efforts undertaken by the “caretaker” government suggest that Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham has a clear program for shaping a new Syria after 54 years of rule by Bashar al-Assad and his father. The visits made by the ministers of foreign affairs and defense, as well as the head of intelligence, to Saudi Arabia […]

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) launched extensive combing and search operations named “Permanent Security” from November 7 to 13, targeting areas in the southern and northern countryside of al-Hol and its camp. This operation coincided with precise and surprise raids on several homes and hideouts used by ISIS sleeper cells, forming part of the SDF’s […]

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has a tried-and-true strategy for dealing with the Turks regarding the Syrian file. It is enough for him to trigger Turkey’s pathological fears regarding the Kurds and declare the dangers of the secession of the Autonomous Administration and the creation of a Kurdish entity, which causes Ankara to flinch and […]

At the beginning of his presidency, President Joe Biden seemed poised to initiate major troop withdrawals after the last withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in 2021. Shortly thereafter, he adjusted the nature of U.S. military presence in Iraq, limiting it to an advisory role. Despite this, Biden has maintained the number of U.S. troops […]

The ISIS terrorist organization continues to expand in the Syrian Badiyah Desert region, adopting the method of rapid surprise strikes that leave as many casualties as possible, whether military or civilian. The group uses a strategy of intimidation and terror to disrupt the ranks of its opponents and demonstrate the strong presence of an organization […]

On February 16, 2024, The Kurdish Center for Studies (KCS) organized a seminar on US policy towards the Middle East following the events of Oct. 7th and the war in Gaza, moderated by KSC fellow Shoresh Darwish. David Schenker, the Taube Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute and former US Assistant Secretary of State for […]

The following is an exclusive KCS interview with Berivan Amuda, from the YPJ (Women’s Protection Units) Information and Documentation Office, which was conducted on December 8th, 2023. The YPJ was established in 2012 and emerged from the bloody outcome of the Syrian Civil War. Since then, the YPJ has gained global renown as a women’s […]

This interview was originally conducted in Kurdish on October 23rd, 2023 and can be found here (including the original video). “It is possible that the Turkish state will continue these attacks and attempt to displace the local population. We have seen historical examples of this, even in recent history, such as the forced displacement of people […]

The Yezidi community is one of the most oppressed and marginalized minorities in the world. As a legacy of at least 73 genocides throughout their history, the number of Yezidis have dwindled to near extinction levels. From the 14th to the 18th century, the Yezidi population fell from 23 million to 2 million, before falling […]

Despite the risk of indictment, Donald Trump still seems to be enjoying considerable popularity in the United States. A survey conducted in 2021 revealed that 74% of American Republicans wanted Trump to run for president again in 2024. The news was significant then, and it is even more so now that the former president was […]

“We can no longer keep these prisoners without an indictment or trial. These people must be held accountable for their crimes. They remain a danger not only to the region, but to the entire world. These are thousands of the most brutal ISIS fighters. We cannot keep them anymore. It is creating a security problem […]

On Saturday the Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria (AANES) announced that it will commence trials of the thousands of ISIS militants it has held in detention since 2019. The Kurdish-led administration of northeast Syria (Rojava) had back in 2020 announced a similar trial with International Monitors led by the Swedish government but such […]

On February 16th, 2023,  the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a press release expressing “grave concern” about reports that the male children of ISIS fighters, some as young as 12, had recently been removed from the Roj Camp in Rojava (northeast Syria), 13 kms from Derik. In the wake […]

On March 23, 2019, the General Command of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – which includes the YPG (People’s Protection Units) and YPJ (Women’s Protection Units) – announced the defeat of ISIS and their so-called ‘Islamic State’ (in the territorial sense of the word) following the capture of the group’s last enclave in the […]

The U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 (with all of its relentless ramifications) and the Arab Spring in 2011, have had colossal impacts on Assyrians in the Middle East in general, and in Syria (Rojava) and Iraq (Kurdistan Region) in particular. These impacts have been magnified by the fact that Assyrians have continually fallen prey […]