Though the accord has since stagnated – the PKK insists that Ankara is not keeping up its part of the deal – Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) continues to court the Kurdish populace, albeit half-heartedly.
Before Erdogan took power eleven years ago, the presence of a Kurdish candidate in a presidential race would have been unthinkable.
Though no formal announcement has been made as of yet, Erdogan is expected to make a bid for the presidency — he has reached his term limit as prime minister -and is eyeing a constitutional amendment that would expand presidential powers.
Buoyed by the advances made by Kurdish movements in neighboring Syria and Iraq, little wonder that the PKK is upping its offensive.
If Erdogan can maintain that level of broad popular support despite his political blunders and much maligned authoritarian tendencies, there is little chance Turkey’s opposition can present a serious challenger in next year’s presidential race.
Now, however, the premier may be facing a new challenge in inflamed tensions within Turkey’s large Kurdish community, long uneasy about Erdogan.
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)has some leverage here, thanks to a strengthened pan-Kurdish network.
But with his new block of reforms, Erdogan’s looks to have achieved a one-two punch.
The prime minister’s hope for an expansion of presidential powers relies on support from Kurdish legislators – an unlikely prospect if Ankara doesn’t bend.
While the withdrawal is already being lauded as the “beginning of the end” of a bloody three-decade-old insurgency by many observers, the reality is more complicated.
