{"id":154257,"date":"2026-01-21T17:51:39","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T00:51:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=154257"},"modified":"2026-01-21T17:51:39","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T00:51:39","slug":"the-turkish-kurds-erdogans-folly-on-full-display","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2026\/01\/21\/the-turkish-kurds-erdogans-folly-on-full-display\/","title":{"rendered":"‘The Turkish Kurds: Erdo\u011fan\u2019s Folly On Full Display’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alon Ben-Meir <\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

– Jan 20, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the 2016 coup attempt, Erdo\u011fan has built a regime in which power is centralized, freedoms are curtailed, and dissent is met with an iron fist. Now that there is a historic opportunity to end the conflict with the Kurds, Erdogan is seeking surrender rather than a dignified, sustainable solution<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Turkish Kurds: Erdo\u011fan\u2019s Folly On Full Display<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly a decade after Turkey\u2019s failed coup attempt of July 2016, the political landscape of the country has been transformed beyond recognition. What began as a night of dreadful uncertainty for the Turkish state has become the long day of Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan\u2019s consolidation of power\u2014an authoritarian restructuring that has reshaped institutions, narrowed civil liberties, and placed entire communities, particularly Kurds, under intensified repression and persecution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Persecution of the Kurds<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps nowhere has Erdo\u011fan\u2019s nationalist authoritarian shift been more devastating than in his treatment of Turkey\u2019s Kurdish population. In the early 2010s, Erdo\u011fan surprised observers by launching a peace process with the Kurdistan Workers\u2019 Party (PKK). For the first time in decades, there was the prospect of a negotiated solution to the entrenched conflict. Kurdish language, culture, and political expression seemed poised to enter mainstream legitimacy. But by 2015, the peace process collapsed spectacularly at Erdogan’s design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, Erdo\u011fan intensified repression to a degree unmatched in the post-1980 era. The pro-Kurdish Peoples\u2019 Democratic Party (HDP), which emerged as a major parliamentary force in 2015, has been relentlessly targeted. Thousands of its members have been arrested, and dozens of HDP-run municipalities have been seized\u2014a de facto dismantling of Kurdish political representation through legal and administrative means. Kurdish identity itself became suspicious, and Kurdish political engagement is equated with terrorism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One particularly egregious example is the siege of the town of Cizre from December 2015 to February 2016 during a conflict between Turkish security forces and Kurdish militants. Civilians were trapped without food, water, or medical care, which was a horrific case of collective punishment. In the Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakir, elected Kurdish mayors were removed and replaced by government appointees, grossly undermining the political rights of the Kurdish community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Renewed Effort Towards Peace<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the historic call of Abdullah \u00d6calan, the imprisoned leader of the PKK, for his organization to disarm in February 2025 and dissolve, the dialogue between the Turkish government and Turkish Kurds has entered a fragile new phase marked by conditional reciprocity and unresolved political demands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PKK has taken concrete steps: it announced a ceasefire in March 2025, renounced armed struggle in May, staged a symbolic weapons-burning ceremony in July, and announced a complete withdrawal from Turkish soil in October 2025. However, senior PKK commanders now state they have fulfilled all measures set by \u00d6calan and will take no further actions until Ankara reciprocates first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Kurdish side\u2019s core demands are clear: unconditional release of \u00d6calan and constitutional recognition of Kurdish identity and political rights (not independence) within Turkey. The PKK commanders explicitly warn that peace will halt without these steps, arguing that as long as the leadership is inside [prison], the Kurdish people cannot be free.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Turkish government, while welcoming Ocalan\u2019s disarmament call as a historic step\u201d that could tear down the wall of terror,\u201d frames the process as a surrender rather than a negotiated settlement. Ankara has publicly refused direct negotiations with the PKK leadership in exile and insists any reconciliation must occur on Turkey\u2019s terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Erdo\u011fan and his far-right MHP ally Devlet Bah\u00e7eli initiated the process primarily for domestic political calculations\u2014seeking Kurdish parliamentary support for constitutional changes and improved regional standing\u2014rather than as a comprehensive initiative to end the more than four decades of bloody conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pro-Kurdish DEM Party actively facilitates dialogue, but the process remains vulnerable. \u00d6calan warns of coup mechanics\u201d that sabotaged past peace efforts, while the government has not yet outlined concrete political reforms, legal guarantees, or a roadmap for democratic rights beyond expecting the PKK\u2019s dissolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After 41 years of violent conflict that claimed the lives of over 40,000 on both sides, the dialogue stands at an impasse. Even though the Kurdish side has forsaken its armed resistance, Ankara still refuses to reciprocate with the institutional changes necessary to secure an enduring political settlement and grant the Kurds in Turkey the human and civil rights they are entitled to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the Kurds are not seeking independence, Erdo\u011fan still refuses to accept the principle that they are an ethnic group that has the inherent right to live their lives as they see fit\u2014speak their language, practice their culture, music, dance, and ritual\u2014as long as they fully abide by the rules and laws of their country to which they have fully committed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Erdogan must remember that nearly 15 percent of the Turkish population\u2014 approximately 16 million\u2014are ethnic Kurds. They will never rest until their human and ethnic rights are recognized. But leave it to the blind nationalist Erdo\u011fan to miss yet another historic opportunity, demonstrating his folly, even when facing a real prospect of ending the most debilitating domestic conflict in modern Turkey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

____________<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a retired professor of international relations, most recently at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU. He taught courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

alon@alonben-meir.com<\/a>                                                                                                               Web: www.alonben-meir.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Alon Ben-Meir – Jan 20, 2026 Since the 2016 coup attempt, Erdo\u011fan has built a regime in which power is centralized, freedoms are curtailed, and dissent is met with an iron fist. Now that there is a historic opportunity to end the conflict with the Kurds, Erdogan is seeking surrender rather than a dignified, sustainable […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-154257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154257"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154257\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":154258,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154257\/revisions\/154258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}