The government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan unexpectedly agreed in 2025 to negotiate with the militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party, PKK to end four decades of conflict – just as he increased his crackdown on the opposition.

Salim Cevik, a Turkey expert from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin, says Erdogan has no real wish for peace. As his public support falls in the polls, these manoeuvres in domestic and foreign politics aim only to ensure he stays in power.

“This has nothing to do with a genuine desire for peace,” Cevik told BIRN in an interview. “Erdogan is not driven by regional dynamics or ideological commitments anymore. Every move he makes, whether toward the Kurds, the opposition, or the West, is calculated solely to keep him in power.”

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