Kurdish Peace Process: From Optimism to Uncertainty and What’s Next?

Turkey and Kurdish politicians are too far committed to the Kurdish peace process to easily backtrack on it. Strategic calculations account for the continuation of the process on both sides. The fact that the process has overcome many challenges illustrates its resilience and the resoluteness of the parties. Nevertheless, there are still a number of factors that have the potential either to terminate or delay it. Regional developments, the electoral performance of the pro-Kurdish HDP, the overall election atmosphere and parties’ calculations about it, and divergent conceptualizations of the place of the process in the debate on a new constitution and political system are the main potential spoiling factors. Successful completion of the process necessitates the actors involved work toward overcoming these factors.