Turkey and the Kurdish question: Reflecting on peacebuilding
- Autores: Ana Villellas Ariño
- Localización: Quaderns de construcció de pau, ISSN-e 2013-8024, Nº. 22, 2011
- Idioma: inglés
- Enlaces
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Resumen
The Kurdish question in Turkey is one of the most pressing challenges in the republic of Turkey, while the interrelated armed conflict involving the PKK armed guerrilla is among the oldest ongoing wars in the world. This report argues that the conflict over the Kurdish question (broadly understood in all its dimensions) has reached over the years a phase in which ambivalent synergies coexist. On one hand, multiple processes and factors at different levels and fields have led the conflict to a stage of conflict-resolution opportunity. That is, there are conditions opening the door to the peaceful resolution of the conflict, which implies peace efforts at this stage are strategic. However, on the other hand, and as the 2009-2010 period has shown, there are multiple obstacles and risks, including non-inclusive and non-comprehensive approaches to the conflict which could perpetuate it or lead it to less tractable conflict expressions and further antagonism. This report reflects on this junction and its dilemmas and challenges, specifically in terms of peacebuilding, including building sufficient consensus on how to deal with the Kurdish issue and on how to engage with and anchor conflict-resolution processes.
