What's really behind the new Turkish-Kurdish dialogue?
07 January 2025
In recent months, Türkiye has seen an apparent revival of the long-thought-dead peace process with the Kurds. First, Türkiye's most nationalist politician and ally to president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Devlet Bahçeli, shook hands with Kurdish politicians in parliament.
Then, for the first time in 26 years of solitary confinement, Kurdish representatives were allowed to meet with jailed Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the armed militia Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK), seen as a terrorist group by Türkiye and the EU.
The Kurdish political movement's demands focus on local democratic rights, cultural freedoms, the use of Kurdish in education and public life, greater local governance influence, and constitutional recognition.
And now, Bahçeli, who once called for the closure of the country's Kurdish party over alleged PKK ties, suggests inviting Öcalan to parliament to announce the PKK's disbandment. Öcalan signalled readiness to act. It's a tense situation for Kurds in Türkiye, with many Kurdish politicians imprisoned and trustees replacing elected officials in municipalities.
 | Yakup Can Yargıç Meanwhile, clashes between the Turkish army and the PKK continue in Northern Iraq. Türkiye opposes YPG militias, which it sees as PKK affiliates, in post-Assad Syria. The government presents this as a strategy to strengthen unity and stability against regional powers like Israel and Iran, but Erdoğan's motive for this step is debated. What's more likely is that Erdoğan seeks parliamentary support for a constitutional change. That change is necessary for him to run again, as he has fulfilled his term limit. To secure this support, he may make concessions to Kurdish interests. While the move is unlikely to be democratic or peacebuilding, the Kurdish political movement, once sidelined, appears ready to engage. |
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