Turkey’s Kurdish Peace Process and the Third Eye

Turkey’s Kurdish question has witnessed novel developments since the commencement of meetings between government officials and the PKK in late 2012 designed to settle the long-running conflict. Rapidly changing regional patterns of alliances, as well as domestic constraints, have led to a gradual internationalization of the process. Although the Turkish government firmly rejects the idea of introducing a “third eye” to the process, the widening gap between Turkey and its Western allies and PKK’s increasingly positive publicity and rising reputation as a result of its campaign against ISIL challenges the Turkish position on this issue.