The leader of Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Nechirvan Barzani met Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Monday, marking the first such visit by a KRG leader to post-Assad Syria. Sources told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the talks focused on the integration agreement between Damascus and the YPG, the Syrian wing of the PKK terrorist group, which has operated a de facto autonomous enclave in Syria.
Syrian state news agency SANA said al-Sharaa received Barzani at the Presidential Palace in Damascus.
The YPG and the security forces of Syria's new administration clashed last January after the terrorist group reneged on an agreement to integrate into Syria's new state institutions. The group later reached a new agreement with Damascus following further advances by Syrian security forces. Amid the clashes, Barzani received Ferhat Abdi Şahin, the leader of the YPG, in the KRG regional capital of Irbil during a U.S.-backed meeting.
Al-Sharaa's office said he and Barzani discussed "strengthening cooperation and coordination, especially in the economic sphere ... in a way that contributes to supporting security and stability."
The Syrian president and Barzani first met on April 11, 2025, on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Türkiye. They met again on April 17, 2026, during the fifth edition of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.
