Abstract This article analyzes the peace process between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been playing out since fall 2024, and explains why it is unlikely to succeed. As of spring 2026, negotiations had reached an impasse over how the Turkish constitution should be amended to recognize Kurdish rights. Obstacles also included how to facilitate the reintegration into society of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan and his militants; renewed violence between Turkey and the PKK's ally, the Syrian Democratic Forces, which had been embroiled in fighting with the militias of post‐Assad Damascus; and a deadlock in the Turkish parliamentary committee charged with implementing the peace process. Despite these setbacks, the analysis suggests, Ankara could still calculate that it would gain strength rather than weaken if it were to extend to the Kurds constitutional recognition and rights, as the resulting peace and unity could bolster its domestic and international position.
Michael M. Gunter (Fri,) studied this question.
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