Back in 2013, efforts to resolve the Kurdish problem — called the “settlement process” or “peace process” — had ushered Turkey into a new era. A reconciliation message by Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), was read out in Kurdish and Turkish during Nowruz celebrations in Diyarbakir that year, boosting nationwide optimism. With a cease-fire in place, the police and the army stopped operations against the PKK, marking the beginning of a rather quiet period in Turkey.

The Justice and Development Party (AKP) government and then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan undertook a number of initiatives to speed up the settlement process and drum up public support. Meetings between government and Kurdish representatives in the Dolmabahce Palace became the colorful public face of the efforts.

The climax came in November 2013 when Massoud Barzani, president of the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government, visited Diyarbakir to meet with Erdogan, arriving in a motorcade of 50 cars. The two leaders appeared hand in hand at a crowded rally in the city, as popular Kurdish folk singer Ibrahim Tatlises and another Kurdish musical icon, the long-exiled Siwan Perwer, sang Kurdish songs, while the premier’s wife, Emine Erdogan, wore a traditional Kurdish scarf. It was a scene loaded with emotions, both for the thousands at the rally and the millions in front of TV screens.

To justify the settlement process and enlist public support, Erdogan’s government focused on the economic aspect of the Kurdish conflict. After months of comprehensive work, the Economy Ministry released a report titled “The Estimated Cost of Terrorism on National Economy.”