Call for peace by Kurdish leader being held in Turkish jail is first step in complex web of negotiations
’s governing ally raised the prospect of a deal to end the four-decade Kurdish insurgency last year, a man and woman armed with assault rifles and explosives entered one ofThe October attack on the headquarters of Turkish Aerospace Industries was a stark reminder that the Kurdistan Workers’ party still posed a deadly threat despite a relentless military campaign against the militants.
The need to resolve the conflict has become more acute after Turkish-backed forces overthrew the Assad regime in Syria, where a powerful militant group dominated by Kurds could undermine Erdogan’s efforts to help stabilise the country. Öcalan is viewed by many of Turkey’s 17 million ethnic Kurds as the iconic leader in a struggle for Kurdish rights. In his appeal, he said the PKK was established when “democratic politics” were closed off to Kurds, but Turkey’s acceptance of a Kurdish identity and other improvements mean the PKK “has completed its lifespan and made its dissolution necessary”.
Focusing just on the disarmament of the PKK without addressing Kurdish grievances could doom this effort to secure long-term peace, said Cuma Cicek, a researcher at the French Institute of Anatolian Studies in Istanbul. Analysts say Erdogan may be compelled to meet some of Dem’s objectives in order to win its support for either changing the constitution to abolish term limits or calling snap elections, if he were to run for president again.
But Erdogan probably hopes that peace at home could at least help persuade Washington to drop its support for the SDF. The Trump administration said it hoped that Öcalan’s call would ease Turkey’s concerns about the Syrian group.
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