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Integration, not independence: the Kurdish question recast

Regional political and security developments have forced a recalibration of long-held Kurdish strategies.

Integration, not independence: the Kurdish question recast
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For the last two decades, the idea of Kurdistan seemed to advance through each regional rupture.

From the mountains of Qandil to the plains of Hasakah, Kurdish movements capitalised on weakened central states, civil war and foreign intervention. 

Today, that arc is bending in a different direction.

Across much of the region, secessionist momentum has slowed, even as the emotional pull of independence remains potent among Kurdish constituencies.

Yet, this trend could rapidly be reversed should Iran face a major foreign intervention. 

Turkeyโ€™s peace process with Kurds

In Turkey, the language of armed struggle to achieve Kurdish autonomy has lost ground.

A renewed peace process with the PKK underscores a strategic shift in Ankaraโ€™s approach, one that mixes negotiation with firm security control. 

The peace process is now moving into the legislative theatre, with lawmakers supporting a framework that would ensure PKK disarmament alongside legal reforms that strengthen political freedoms without dropping judicial pursuits against past PKK terror acts. 

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