Turkish and Syrian Kurdish officials have been holding secret talks since the spring of last year, in parallel with negotiations between Ankara and imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan. The discussions are part of an ambitious effort to end decades of conflict between the Turkish state and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and to ensure that Syrian Kurdish autonomy does not pose a threat to Turkey, well-informed sources told Al-Monitor.

Initial contacts between Turkish officials and a senior representative of the Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria took place at least twice last year — once in France and once in Switzerland. The meetings occurred shortly after nationwide local elections in Turkey, in which the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) defeated President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) for the first time nationally, with support from the pro-Kurdish DEM Party. That was when Ankara initiated a new round of negotiations with PKK leader Ocalan to end the conflict and also to scupper the DEM-CHP alliance in favor of a new pact between the AKP and the Kurds that would help Erdogan remain in power beyond 2028, when his second and final term as president ends and parliamentary and presidential elections are due to be held. 

The secret talks with the Syrian Kurds took place on and off even as Turkish forces continued to attack northeast Syria, targeting alleged PKK militants and critical infrastructure and creating widespread hardship in the region, with hundreds of thousands of civilians displaced and countless innocents killed in the crossfire. 

However, what apparently began as a Turkish scheme for Erdogan to retain power and dismantle the Syrian Kurdish forces and their regional administration is rapidly evolving into a revolutionary shift in Turkey’s approach to the Kurds — which could benefit those living on both sides of the border.