Turkey-PKK Deal May Benefit Erdogan at Home and Abroad

Middle East|Deal With Kurds May Benefit Erdogan at Home and Abroad

By seeking a peace deal with Kurdish militants, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey is attempting something momentous that not only aims to end 40 years of violent insurgency inside Turkey but envisions ambitious change across the region.

The call on Thursday by Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or P.K.K., for his militants to lay down their arms followed months of negotiations and was a well thought out answer to the challenges Mr. Erdogan faces, said Asli Aydintasbas, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C.

At home it could earn Mr. Erdogan the Kurdish support he needs for constitutional changes to give the Turkish leader — who has steadily expanded his power over more than 20 years — another run at the presidency.

Farther afield, ending the conflict with Kurdish groups that are ranged across parts of Iraq, Syria and Turkey would release Turkey and its military of a huge burden. If Kurds in neighboring Syria follow suit, it has the potential to calm a longstanding regional conflict and help stabilize an allied, fledgling government in Damascus.

“This is a historic call,” Ms. Aydintasbas, said of Mr. Ocalan’s appeal. The proposal “has a lot to do with the geopolitical pressures building up in Turkey’s neighborhood, creating a sense of insecurity for both Turks and Kurds,” she said.

“The chaotic start of the Trump administration and the uncertainty about Syria’s future also seem to have made it evident to Ankara that it needs to consolidate on the home front,” Ms. Aydintasbas added, “and there is no better way to do it than a deal with Kurds.”