The Turkish army has maintained deadly attacks in Syria and Iraq on the combatants linked to the Kurdish insurgents PKK in the two weeks which followed the founder of the movement on his disciples to lay down their arms and dissolve.
The management of the PKK, based in the Qandil mountains of the northern Kurdistan region of Iraq, answered the call by the founder, Abdullah Ocalan, announcing a unilateral prison on March 1.
Previous efforts to negotiate the end of the 40-year-old Turkey-PKK conflict, which killed more than 40,000 people, failed. This time, Turkish officials publish little information about the state of everything. But it seems that the process is still progressing, and analysts say that Turkey does not discuss its progress to avoid a potential national reaction.
What is the PKK?
For more than four decades, Turkey has fought an armed insurrection by the Kurdistan workers’ party, or PKK, a militant group who says that it is looking for greater rights for the country’s Kurdish minority.
The group began to fight the Turkish state in the early 1980s, originally seeking independence for Kurds, who would represent about 15% or more from the population of Turkey.
From the mountains of East Turkey and South, the PKK fighters attacked the Turkish military bases and the police stations, which caused severe responses from the government. Later, the conflict spread to other parts of the country, with devastating PKK attacks in Turkish cities that have killed many civilians.
Over the past decade, the Turkish army has sent the PKK forces of the main Kurdish cities in southeast Turkey, while using drones to kill its leaders and fighters, hindering its ability to organize and carry out attacks.
Where are the peace talks?
Mr. Ocalan, the founder of the PKK, launched a public appeal to his fighters on February 27 to have their weapons and dissolve. He said the armed struggle should be replaced by a peaceful political action to try to earn more rights for the Kurds – the largest ethnic minority in Turkey.
The PKK management answered the call by declaring a unilateral ceasefire. But Turkey has not failed.
Last week, a spokesperson for the Turkish Defense Ministry, the counter-admiral, Zekki Akturk, said that the Turkish army “would continue its fight against terrorism with determination and resolve until there is a single terrorist.” Turkey considers all members of the PKK and other “terrorist” affiliated groups.
The counter-admiral Akturk said that Turkey had killed 26 “terrorists” in Syria and Iraq the previous week and almost 1,500 since January.
The PKK has not corroborated these figures. But its military wing said last week that in recent days, Turkey had made more than 800 strikes on the group’s positions in northern Iraq using hunting jets, helicopters and artillery.
Until now, peace discussions have not produced a bilateral cease-fire, and Turkish leaders have promised to maintain military pressure on the PKK, which Turkey and the United States consider a terrorist organization.
“Naturally, to solve our problems, we deprive dialogue, reconciliation and discussions,” said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan this month. “But if the hand we have extended is left in the air or bitten, we will keep our iron fist at any time.”
What does Turkey want?
Turkish officials have described their objective as a unilateral surrender by the PKK that its fighters should disarm, but there has been no public discussion on the concessions that the government has offered in return or potential amnesties for persons sought for the activity related to PKK.
“The group has understood the fact that he can do nothing with terror, that he has survived his lifespan and has no choice but to dissolve,” said the spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, Admiral Ataturk. “The PKK and all its related groups should end the terrorist activities, dissolve and abandon their weapons as they drop them unconditionally.”
Erdogan also said that Turkey would continue to use the military force if the PKK has blocked or that peace talks were bewildered.
“We will continue our operations in progress until the last terrorist is eliminated, without leaving a single stone above another and no head at the top of any shoulder, if necessary,” he said.
What does the PKK want?
The PKK and the groups associated with it have long been more important rights for the Kurds of Turkey, whose language and culture have suppressed since the formation of Turkey after the First World War.
Last week, Mustafa Karasu, a senior PKK official, said in a television interview that the group was serious about disarmament, but Turkey had to stop seizing the PKK positions. He continued by saying that Mr. Ocalan needed more freedom to be able to help direct the group’s transition.
“We will carry out the transformation that leadership has stated, the dissolution of the PKK, ending the armed struggle. No one should doubt it, ”said Karasu. “And of course, the State, the government, should do what is necessary in democratization without adopting excuses.”
Mr. Ocalan’s appeal was preceded by talks who included Turkish officials, Mr. Ocalan, Iraqi Kurdish leaders and members of the main pro-Kurdish political party of Turkey.
Are the forces led by Kurds in Syria affected?
Mr. Ocalan is also a figurehead for a militia led by Kurds, the Syrian democratic forces, which controls an extent of territory in northeast Syria.
The Turkish government considers that the militia a branching of the PKK and publicly makes little distinction between them. But the United States considers the two separate groups, and for a decade allied themselves with the homeless in the fight against jihadists of the Islamic State in Syria.
On Monday, the chief of the homelessness concluded an agreement with the Syrian acting president Ahmed Al-Shara, to integrate the force led by the Kurds in the new Syrian state.
Although Mr. Ocalan did not mention Syria specifically in his call for disarmament, some Syrian Kurdish leaders said that the agreement was in accordance with Mr. Ocalan’s advice.
In television comments on Tuesday, Erdogan expressed the support of Turkey for the new agreement, saying that he “will serve the security and peace of Syria”.
