Kurdish-Turkish Conflict
All topics-
Kurdish Rebels Retreating from Turkey
Finding a Safe Haven in Iraq
After three decades of war, Turkey and the Kurdish separatist PKK outfit are close to implementing a ceasefire. The first PKK fighters have already begun leaving Turkey for safe havens in Iraq. Birgit Svensson reports
-
Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan
Erdogan's Kurdish Gambit
Turkey's prime minister Erdogan envisions a new regional order under Turkish leadership, based on a realignment between Turks and Kurds that underpins a strategic partnership for exploiting the region's last untapped energy resources. By Sinan Ulgen
-
Memorial to the Dersim Rebellion in Turkey
Apologies and Forgiveness
A major Kurdish uprising took place 75 years ago in what was the province of Dersim (now the Turkish-named Tunceli Province). It was brutally crushed and ended with the death or deportation of thousands of villagers. Today, cautious steps are being taken to address this painful chapter of history. By Ekrem Eddy Güzeldere
-
Öcalan Announces PKK Peace Plan
Too Good to Be True
The offer of a ceasefire made by Abdullah Öcalan, the incarcerated head of the banned Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), has been welcomed by the Turkish government. But how can there be real peace when the conflicts of the past are glossed over instead of being openly discussed and addressed? A commentary by Ömer Erzeren
-
Interview with Pinar Selek
''I Can Feel a Huge Amount of Solidarity''
The sociologist and author Pinar Selek spoke with Hülya Köylü Schenk on her sentence of life imprisonment in Turkey and on the solidarity she has been receiving from many levels of society
-
Peace Negotiations between Turkey and the PKK
Kurdish Conflict Threatens Erdogan's Legacy
Turkey's head of government Recep Tayyip Erdogan has led his nation into the modern age. He could bask in his success, but while skyscrapers shoot up in Istanbul, other parts of Turkey still languish at levels comparable to those of developing countries. The Kurdish conflict is partly to blame, and if Erdogan is to avoid squandering his achievements, he must at last secure peace. Commentary by Christiane Schlötzer
-
Reaction in Turkey to AKP's Policy on Syria
Divided Society, Polarised Politics
With relations between Ankara and Damascus already strained, recent military escalation in the Syria conflict is also threatening to deepen the long existing rifts that run between Turkey's political sphere and society as a whole. By Fatma Kayabal in Istanbul
-
Alliance between the PKK and the Assad Regime
A Political Sect on the Wrong Track
Just as the Assad regime is foundering, the Kurdistan Workers' Party, PKK, is proving to be its loyal henchman. In this essay, Stefan Buchen writes that PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan made a deal with the Syrian regime back in the days of Hafez al-Assad
-
Social Media in Turkey
Circumventing Censorship
A growing number of young Turks are turning to social media, complaining that mainstream media are being increasingly controlled by the government. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul
-
Press Freedom in Turkey
Against the Criminalization of Journalism
Despite some reforms and ongoing negotiations for EU membership, Turkey's ranking in the Reporters without Borders Press Freedom Index remains strikingly low. Qantara's Fatma Kayabal spoke to, Erol Önderoğlu, the organization's correspondent in Istanbul
-
Turkey's Kurdish Policy
The Return of the Hardliners
Just a few years ago, it looked as if the government in Istanbul was embarking on a policy of reconciliation with Turkey's Kurdish population. But that dynamic of reform has long since stalled and trouble is brewing, as Ömer Erzeren reports
-
Kurdish Language Studies in Turkey
A Radical Change in Quiet Stages
The walls may be ancient, but the students are young: the Zinciriye Madrasa in Mardin already offers a Masters in Kurdish Language and Culture and is now to start offering a Bachelors programme. It's a quiet but remarkable change in the Turkish university system. Sonja Galler reports