Southeastern Turkey on Fire Again

Abstract

In the summer of 2015 – with the break of the 2013 ceasefire agreement – fighting has renewed between the Turkish state and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s intention to introduce a presidential system, as well as the Turkish and Kurdish involvement in the Syrian civil war encourages the parties to escalate violence instead of seeking a peaceful agreement. This analysis provides an overview of the most important issues of the past three years. Firstly, we examine the reasons and particular interests which led to the renewed armed struggle; then we analyse the efficiency of the instruments used by the parties in order to evaluate the chances of a peaceful settlement.