Turkey's Kurdish Conundrum
Vol. 14 No. 4 - Winter 2016

From the Desk of the EditorMonday, March 7, 2016
Turkey’s Kurdish conundrum has interconnected domestic and regional dimensions, both of which have flared up in an unprecedented manner over the past year. On one hand, the collapse of a two-and-a-half year ceasefire in July 2015 between the...

• Süreya Martha Köprülü

Inclusive Ways to Peace and Democracy in TurkeyMonday, March 7, 2016
As a politician and women’s rights activist, the Kurdish issue in Turkey is a priority for me. I was one of the organizers of two civic initiatives Women’s Solidarity for Peace (WSP) and Life Is What Matters (Aslolan Hayattır), which aim...

• Gülseren Onanç

Syria’s Dark Shadow over US-Turkey RelationsMonday, March 7, 2016
The Syrian conflict, primarily because of its duration and ferocity, has upended much of the Middle East in ways in which few would have imagined back in 2011. It has been far more consequential than in the early days of the Arab Spring when a number...

• Henri J. Barkey

Decentralization for Peace in Turkey, Iraq & Syria Monday, March 7, 2016
The Republic of Turkey is ill. The violent upheaval taking place just over the border in Iraq and Syria have laid bare the flaws in the very foundation of its present administrative structure. To keep the republic on its feet in the 21st century,...

• Aydın Selcen

Ankara vs. the PKK: Old War, New StrategiesMonday, March 7, 2016
Since 20 July 2015, Turkey has been mired in a spiral of violence. During the clashes in which nearly one thousand people lost their lives, the level of violence initiated by both the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Turkish security...

• Metin Gürcan

New Turkey-PKK Peace Talks: An Inevitability PostponedMonday, March 7, 2016
When a two-and-a-half year ceasefire collapsed in July 2015, the Turkish state and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) – listed internationally as a terrorist organization – entered into a dark, dangerous tunnel from which it will...

• Nigar Göksel
• Berkay Mandıracı

US-Turkey Relations at a Breaking Point over the KurdsMonday, March 7, 2016
In order to understand the current rift on the regional issues between Ankara and Washington, first, we need to go back to September 2014. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) had invaded Mosul three months before that. The group had...

• Tolga Tanış

The Kurdish Issue in Turkey: Back to Square One?Monday, March 7, 2016
The collapse of the Turkish-Kurdish peace process in July 2015 and renewed fighting has seemingly pushed the situation back to square one. What led to this failure?[1] Despite incredible progress toward a resolution, the two sides proved unable to...

• Michael M. Gunter

How ISIL Advanced Kurdish NationalismMonday, March 7, 2016
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Sykes-Picot Agreement, which drew the boundaries for many of the nation-states in today’s Middle East. With the stroke of a pen, the French diplomat François Georges-Picot and Sir Mark Sykes...

• Namo Abdulla

The Tyranny of the Nation-StateMonday, March 7, 2016
Ostensibly, states exist for their people. However, the state has failed to achieve this simple objective for thousands of years. Instead of existing for the people, the state exists mostly for itself. This means the state uses its power to control...

• Süha Atatüre

Odd Bedfellows: Turkey and IranMonday, March 7, 2016
New layers of geopolitical and economic landscapes will be predominantly defining the nature of the relationship between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Turkey. For over 35 years, the Turkey-Iran relationship has been characterized by mutual rivalry...

• Majid Rafizadeh

Turkish Business in the Kurdistan Region of IraqMonday, March 7, 2016
The leadership of modern Turkey has historically viewed its relations with the Iraqi Kurds through a traditional security lens. The prospect of a Kurdish nation – the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) – emerging as an autonomous region...

• Christina Bache Fidan

Turkey Caught in the Maelstrom of SyriaMonday, March 7, 2016
The recent escalation of armed clashes in southeastern Turkey between Turkish security forces and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is indicative of the new, turbulent phase the Kurdish problem has entered. It is now both one of Turkey’s...

• Pantelis Touloumakos