Secret negotiations between Turkish and Syrian Kurdish officials have been underway since Spring 2024, aimed at ending decades of conflict between Ankara and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and addressing Turkish concerns about Kurdish autonomy in northeast Syria, Al-Monitor reported.
Well-informed sources told the news website that the discussions have unfolded in parallel with a renewed negotiation track between Turkish officials and Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned PKK leader. High-level meetings with Syrian Kurdish officials reportedly took place last year in France and Switzerland, shortly after Turkish local elections.
The shift followed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s electoral setback to the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which was backed by the pro-Kurdish DEM Party. Seeking to weaken this opposition bloc, Erdogan’s administration began exploring a new political pact with Kurdish forces, both domestic and across the border.
MNA/
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