Turkey has experienced two major political upheavals in the past month.

At the beginning of March, the Kurdistan Workers Party, known as the PKK, declared a ceasefire

with Turkey.

The imprisoned leader of the PKK told the group to disarm, clearing the path to end

more than four decades of fighting that has killed some 40,000 people.

Jail, PKK leader Abdullah Ochanan has made a historic declaration.

It seemed to be an outright win for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Getting credit for removing one of the country's top security threats could have major political benefits for his Justice and Development Party, known as the AKP.

But that initiative could be undermined by another recent event in Turkey, the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamolu on corruption charges.

His arrest comes just days before Turkey's main opposition party, CHP, was expected to nominate

him as presidential candidate.

Ima MOLU is widely seen as Erdogan's main political rival and a likely challenger in the

2028 presidential election.

Many Turks believe that Erdogan ordered his arrest on dubious charges as a way to undermine the opposition.

In response, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets.

There have now been five nights of massive countrywide protests across Turkey,

and the demonstrations show no sign of letting up.

Some of the protests are taking place in areas usually supportive of Erdogan, and they are seen as a test of his long-time leadership.

All of this raises questions about Turkey's political future, from its commitment to free and fair elections, to whether the peace process with the Kurds will be stillborn, or if peace can hold a mid-nationwide unrest.

Welcome to Season 2 of Counterpoint. Each week, we look at one pressing question

facing world leaders from two opposing points of view. I'm Sasha Polico Seranski, a deputy editor at Foreign Policy and your host and moderator for the show.

Today, we're tackling the question, can the Turkish-Kurdish peace process succeed?

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