What is it about?
This chapter explores why attempts to resolve Turkey’s Kurdish conflict have struggled to produce lasting political change. It examines a tension between Kurdish demands for recognition and representation and a populist vision of a single, unified “people” whose will is defined by the leadership. It follows peace initiatives, the replacement of elected mayors with state-appointed trustees, and Turkey’s contrasting relationships with Kurdish authorities in Iraq and northern Syria. Across these settings, it argues that recognition remains fragile when it depends on executive permission rather than lasting political guarantees.
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Why is it important?
Talks remain vulnerable to reversal when recognition, promises and electoral mandates can be withdrawn. The chapter argues that lasting peace requires institutions capable of accommodating difference and sustaining commitments across changes in leadership and political priorities. These questions matter for minority rights, democratic representation and peacebuilding.
Perspectives
My concern is with the gap between being invited into dialogue and gaining a secure place in political life. I want to understand how institutions can turn temporary openings into lasting coexistence, protecting different voices and political commitments as leaders and priorities change. This means asking how recognition can become dependable, and how participation can gain protection from discretionary power.
Dr Spyros Sofos
Simon Fraser University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Kurdish Question, Populist Sovereignty, and the Limits of Institutional Mediation, July 2026, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.4324/9781003665830-6.
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Resources
What’s behind Erdoğan’s calculated shift on Kurds and its potential consequences
Erdoğan’s new Kurdish peace initiative needs to be seen, not as one premised on his appreciation of democratic dialogue and equality for the Kurds, but on his intention to undermine tacit Kurdish political support for the opposition. A Kurdish Peace is unlikely to be based on equality as such a recognition goes against the grain of Erdoğan’s populism and the imperative of maintaining control over Turkey's political life.
Peace With the Kurds or Without them?
Turkey’s new framework law creates a path toward ending the PKK insurgency. It does not yet accept Kurdish claims of recognition as a durable part of the political order.
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