Iraqi Kurdish leader in Damascus for talks on Syria Kurds' deal: sources
Iraqi Kurdistan leader Nechirvan Barzani met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus to discuss the integration of Kurdish forces into the Syrian state. The talks follow a January agreement aimed at stabilizing the region after the ouster of Bashar al-Assad.
Why it matters
The meeting is a critical step in the post-conflict political restructuring of Syria and the long-term integration of Kurdish autonomous regions into the national framework.
Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa met Monday (August 3, 2026) with Nechirvan Barzani, leader of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, as official sources told AFP the talks aimed to advance an integration deal between Damascus and Syria's Kurds.
Syrian state news agency SANA said Mr. Sharaa received Mr. Barzani at the Presidential palace in Damascus, in the first visit by the head of Iraq's Kurdistan region following the December 2024 ouster of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad.
After clashes between Syrian Kurdish fighters and the new authorities' forces in January this year, the two sides reached a deal to integrate Syrian Kurdish institutions and forces into the state.
During the fighting, Mr. Barzani met Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi, chief of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Force (SDF), in Kurdistan's Erbil in a U.S.-backed meeting.
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