18 October 2024 - 18:34
Kurdish distrust of Turkey's peace plan

The Middle East Eye and Middle East Forum, pointing to the failure of previous peace processes between the Turkish government and Kurdish groups, have asserted that Kurds are no longer trusting of such initiatives.

Recently, certain Turkish politicians, including Devlet Bahceli, leader of the ultranationalist Nationalist Movement Party, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, have shown signs of willingness to restart peace talks with Turkish Kurds. The Middle East Eye and Middle East Forum have analyzed this development in separate commentaries. Both institutions highlight that Turkish government officials have previously held peace talks with Kurdish political leaders. However, they attribute the failure of past peace negotiations to the Turkish government's lack of sincerity in permanently resolving the Kurdish issue. 

The commentaries also note the renewed willingness of Kurdish leaders in Turkey to engage in a peace process between Ankara and Kurdish groups, particularly the PKK. 

However, they emphasize that Turkey's ongoing military operations against Kurdish groups in Turkey, Iraq, and Syria, amidst rising tensions in the Middle East following Israeli attacks on Palestine and Lebanon, has fueled Turkey's concern about spillover effects. 

Consequently, Erdogan, in collaboration with Bahçeli, his coalition partner, is attempting to secure positive Kurdish sentiment to manage the situation and possibly garner Kurdish support for potential constitutional changes. 

The Middle East Eye and Middle East Forum remind that the Turkish government unilaterally ended the previous peace process with the Kurds and escalated repression against them. This, they argue, makes the likelihood of successful peace negotiations difficult. 

According to these institutions' analysis, Kurdish officials in Turkey, including leaders of the pro-Kurdish Democratic and Equality Party, view these developments with skepticism and have little faith in Turkish authorities. 

News Code 159766

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