On Turkey – Turkey’s Kurdish Opening: Shifting Into Reverse Gear?

Nearly a year after Turkish President Abdullah Gül declared that 'good things are going to happen concerning the Kurdish issue,' the government's attempts to solve what remained the country's knottiest problem appear to have fizzled out. Both sides were blaming the other for this worsening state of affairs. The government, fearful of a nationalist backlash, seemed unable to press ahead with substantive reforms until the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) halted its attacks. The PKK said it reserved the right to pursue armed attacks until its own conditions were met.

But the clock was ticking. If the Kurdish opening was to succeed, the government woul need to bring Kurdish leaders into the equation. The sooner the government roused the courage to sit down with the Kurds, the more likely it was that peace can be achieved.