Between Security and Liberalization: Decoding Turkey's Struggle with the PKK

Abstract

This article identifies the dynamics of the national security syndrome and the pendulum swing between security and liberalization that are embedded in the Turkish political system. It then explores how these are reflected in the problematic and conflictual processes of Turkish policy formulation with regard to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the post-violence era. The article presents evidence of a new impasse surrounding Turkey's southeast/Kurdish question. While Turkey is having difficulties in designing post-terror policies, the PKK appears unprepared to fully disarm and give up. The only route remaining seems to be one of political struggle. After identifying Turkey's structural limits to addressing the issue, the article discusses the implications of these on the future of the conflict, on Turkey's foreign relations with the West, and on the increasingly torn domestic political situation.