Media: Erdoğan to define new strategy on Kurdish issue

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is preparing to define a new strategy for addressing the Kurdish issue with the leadership of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Erdoğan will meet in the coming days with a delegation that previously met with Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Caliber.Az reports, citing the Turkish newspaper Yeni Şafak.

It is expected that Erdoğan will engage with the delegation from the pro-Kurdish DEM party. The details of the meeting and its potential political implications will be discussed with the ruling party, and a new strategy will be formulated to guide the process.

In late February, representatives of the pro-Kurdish DEM party read out a message from Öcalan to the PKK, urging the dissolution and disarmament of the group. In response, the Kurdish armed forces of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) expressed their willingness to lay down arms if allowed to engage in political activities within Türkiye.

The government anticipates that the dissolution of the PKK will take two to three months. Meanwhile, Turkish authorities are reportedly planning military operations in case the PKK ignores Öcalan’s call and refuses to disarm.

By Khagan Isayev