Mavi Boncuk | OP-EDS AND ARTICLES FROM
THE WASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR NEAR EAST POLICY
WHAT DOES TURKEY GAIN FROM PKK TALKS?
By Soner Cagaptay | Al-Sharq al-Awsat | May 4, 2013
On April 25th, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) announced that it would withdraw its militants from Turkish soil after more than four decades of fighting against Ankara, including carrying out terror attacks inside Turkey.
The announcement follows recent news that Ankara has begun official peace talks with PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan aimed at ending the long conflict in Turkey's southeast. A successful resolution would deliver peace to Turkey and bring the Syrian Kurds -- some of whom have indirect ties to the PKK -- closer to Ankara. This in turn would strengthen Ankara's hand as it strives to unseat the neighboring Bashar Al-Assad regime. Alongside Turkey's rapprochement with the Iraqi Kurds, the process could help Ankara build a "Kurdish axis" in the Middle East, or at least a friendly cordon. Yet rivalries with Iran could complicate any such plans.
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