Another Kurdish Resolution Process Underway: Between Hope and Contradictions

On the positive side, the prospect of reconciliation presents many opportunities that could elevate Turkey both domestically and in the region. PKK terror cost more than 40,000 lives while the economic cost of the conflict is $1.8 trillion according to the Turkish Minister of Finance.[vi] The resolution could foster a more positive climate in society, potentially strengthening domestic unity. Regionally, Turkey could present itself as a peacemaker, which could enhance the country’s outlook in the Middle East. It could also open a new chapter in Turkey-EU and Turkey-US relations.

On the other hand, however, the weaponization of the judiciary and law enforcement by targeting dissenting voices, mass arrests of political dissidents[vii], including mayors of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), and disregarding the rulings of the appellate court at the domestic level and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) have become a common practice under the AKP’s rule.

Turkey’s arbitrary use of counterterrorism laws against “perceived government critics”[viii], prolonged pretrial detention, and politically motivated judicial rulings are among the key concerns frequently raised by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).[ix] The AKP government and the judiciary have failed to implement the ECtHR’s rulings on numerous occasions[x], including the release of pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ, who have been in prison since 2016.[xi] Another ECtHR ruling was ignored about Yuksel Yalcinkaya, who was imprisoned based on the arbitrary application of the law on “membership of a terrorist organization”, following the 2016 coup attempt.[xii] The latter decision would have favorably impacted hundreds of thousands of victims of the post-coup purge in Turkey, who have been gravely affected by the government’s crackdown since.[xiii]

The AKP Government effectively utilized the judiciary to imprison Ekrem İmamoğlu, the mayor of Istanbul, and President Erdoğan’s potential top challenger in the next presidential election in 2028.[xiv] Imamoğlu was arrested in March 2025 on corruption charges and suspicion of terrorism.[xv] Following his arrest, a systemic and planned legal crackdown has intensified[xvi] against mayors of the main opposition CHP, including other metropolitan cities, aiming to take over CHP-governed municipalities [xvii]. Another noticeable example is Ahmet Ozer, the CHP mayor of Istanbul’s Esenyurt district, who was arrested last year on charges of links to the PKK. While the terrorism charges were recently dropped, corruption charges remain in place and keep him in prison.

Another charismatic leader and one of Erdoğan’s challengers in 2015, Selahattin Demirtas, the former co-chair of the HDP, was arrested in 2016 following the presidential election in 2015. Defying Öcalan’s demand for remaining impartial during that election year, Demirtas sparked Erdoğan’s vendetta, when he delivered a short but notable speech in the Turkish Parliament and proclaimed, “We will not make you the President.” Despite making comments on every other issue, significant or not, Öcalan refuses to mention Demirtas’s name during his meeting with the DEM MPs.[xvii][xviii] In the meantime, the AKP government does not show any change on the front of its policies against Kurdish culture and shut down the Kurdish language and culture association in Izmir, Turkey, in early August.[xix]

The ongoing process is distinct from the previous ones in the sense that there is no emphasis on democratization, advancing human rights, and the rule of law in Turkey. Instead, “terror-free Turkey” emerged as the focal point, referring to disarming and dissolving the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The government coalition wants to offer limited terms of resolution, which would free Öcalan and grant amnesty to some PKK members rather than a comprehensive undertaking that could address the fundamental underlying problems between the opposing parties to the conflict.[xx] In exchange, the pro-Kurdish DEM Party MPs are expected to support a constitutional amendment which will extend terms for Erdoğan’s Presidency, all the while authoritarian practices and silencing dissenting voices in the country will continue.[xxi] Without fundamental changes in the status quo, and empowering democratization and the rule of law, the peace process may lead to another failure and even deeper resentment among Kurds.