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🗓️ 3 May 2025
⏱️ 36 minutes
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Introducing Can the Turkish-Kurdish Peace Process Succeed? from Counterpoint.
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The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) declared a cease-fire last month in its war with Turkey, opening the door to a possible peace agreement between the two sides. Some 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict, which has gone on for decades.
A deal would be a major win for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan—but it’s not at all clear he can pull it off. In fact, he seems to have undermined his own chances by imprisoning the leader of Turkey’s political opposition, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, triggering widespread protests.
On this episode of Counterpoint, we’re posing the question: Can the Turkish-Kurdish peace process succeed?
Making the case that it can succeed is Galip Dalay, a senior consulting fellow at Chatham House and researcher at the University of Oxford’s St. Antony’s College.
Taking a more pessimistic view is Arzu Yilmaz, an associate professor of politics and international relations at the University of Kurdistan Hewler in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan.
Counterpoint is a production of Foreign Policy, in partnership with the Doha Forum. It is hosted by FP deputy editor Sasha Polakow-Suransky.
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0:34.0 | Turkey has experienced two major political upheavals in the past month. |
0:38.3 | At the beginning of March, the Kurdistan Workers Party, known as the PKK, declared a ceasefire with Turkey. |
0:44.3 | The imprisoned leader of the PKK told the group to disarm, clearing the path to end more than four decades of fighting, |
0:51.3 | that has killed some 40,000 people. |
0:53.3 | Jail, PKK leader Abdullah Ochanan has made a historic declaration. |
0:58.0 | It seemed to be an outright win for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. |
1:03.0 | Getting credit for removing one of the country's top security threats could have major political |
1:08.0 | benefits for his Justice and Development Party, known as the AKP. |
1:12.6 | But that initiative could be undermined by another recent event in Turkey, the arrest of |
1:17.6 | Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamolu on corruption charges. |
1:20.6 | His arrest comes just days before Turkey's main opposition party, CHP, was expected to nominate |
1:26.6 | him as presidential candidate. |
1:29.0 | Imamolu is widely seen as Erdogan's main political rival and a likely challenger in the |
1:33.9 | 28 presidential election. Many Turks believe that Erdogan ordered his arrest on dubious |
1:39.9 | charges as a way to undermine the opposition. In response, hundreds of thousands of people |
1:45.0 | took to the streets. |
1:46.0 | There have now been five nights of massive countrywide protests across Turkey, and the demonstrations |
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