Abstract

Lately, Turkish government has taken some shy preliminary steps to acknowledge the Kurdish issue as a problem to be solved, beyond mere denial, assimilation and security-oriented measures of the past. The presence of the Kurdish party (Peace and Democracy Party, BDP) in the Parliament should have also normally contributed to the solution of the problem. However, as of mid 2010, this process seems to have stalled or even reversed. In this paper, we will try to understand this current deadlock by espousing a more historical approach and identify major axes and actors of the ongoing conflict. An associated box provides a timeline of major developments with regards the Kurdish issue.