Skip to main content

Turkey’s ‘Peace Process’ Is Just Starting

The politics of the Turkish-Kurdish peace initiative are just beginning to play out for Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
A girl holds a Turkish national flag as she visits the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey, during a ceremony to mark National Sovereignty and Child's Day in Ankara April 23, 2013. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXYWM1
Read in 

Sticking to its promises, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) appears to have started pulling out from Turkey as agreed with Ankara. At least 50 militants are said to have crossed into Iraqi Kurdistan since May 8.

The process, however, is just starting. The statements made by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in late December and by PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in March were only preliminary messages. The doubts are over. According to confidential information, the approximately 2,500 PKK rebels in Turkey will complete their withdrawal — armed or unarmed — sometime between Aug. 15 (the day PKK launched its armed rebellion in 1984) and Sept. 21 (World Peace Day).

Access the Middle East news and analysis you can trust

Join our community of Middle East readers to experience all of Al-Monitor, including 24/7 news, analyses, memos, reports and newsletters.

Subscribe

Only $100 per year.