Iraqi Kurdish regional leader meets Syrian president in Damascus

What the report says

Nechirvan Barzani, president of Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdistan Region, met Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus on Monday, in what Al Jazeera described as the first visit by a Kurdish leader to Syria since the fall of Bashar al-Assad. Barzani headed a senior delegation to the Syrian capital and was received at the People’s Palace. Syria’s state news agency said the two sides discussed bilateral ties and broader regional issues aimed at improving cooperation and coordination.

The talks come after months of contact between the Kurdistan Regional Government and Syria’s new authorities. Barzani and al-Sharaa had previously met twice on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum. According to the Kurdish regional presidency, earlier discussions touched on economic ties and the agreement between Damascus and the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF. A major issue remains the future integration of the Kurdish-led SDF into Syrian state institutions, alongside Kurdish demands for political and cultural guarantees.

Al Jazeera, citing other reports, said the agenda also included Kurdish language rights, administrative autonomy and implementation of a decree related to Kurdish-language use. The visit appears to fit into a broader round of outreach, including prior trips by Syrian officials to Erbil and efforts to reopen Syria’s consulate in Iraq’s Kurdish region.

The engagement matters because the Kurdistan Region shares a long border with Syria and hosts many Syrian refugees, making stability in northeastern Syria important for security, migration and relations with Baghdad and Ankara.