Nihat Ali Özcan, PhD
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Erdoğan and the changing character of demonstrations
So far the Justice and Development Partly (AKP) government has won all the political struggles against its traditional rivals. However, a new breed of opponents, limited…
Government, demonstrations and the future of talks with the PKK
Demonstrations in Istanbul spread to other cities. They will probably continue for a while. Everyone is discussing their causes and consequences. The government’s…
Syria and the regional sectarian war
The more active stance taken by Hezbollah and Iran in the Syrian civil war made the Turkish government angry and triggered a series of reckless sect-oriented statements.…
Problems of change and security in Turkey’s Syria policy
Before his visit to the U.S., Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was using chemical weapons against the opposition. He…
Constitutional change and the Kurdish problem
These days, the PKK will be gradually withdrawing its militants. This process is expected to last until September. In order to understand how this process might unfold,…
Barzani and the PKK
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has announced that it will withdraw its militants to Iraqi Kurdistan. This could cause some trouble for the Iraqi Kurdish…
New opportunity spaces for the PKK as a ‘united operation force’
The negotiations between the government and outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan are continuing. The government has two particular concerns;…
Possible scenarios of the government-PKK negotiations
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government is pursuing an Abdullah Öcalan-centered policy to resolve the Kurdish question. This policy not only empowered…
Erdoğan’s order, laws and the Turkish Armed Forces
Although the negotiations between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)…
The PKK’s military capacity and the withdrawal process
Öcalan declared the first step of the negotiations a ceasefire to be followed by the withdrawal of armed militants from Turkey. Karayılan announced that the organization…
Erdoğan’s negotiations with the PKK and the Syrian Kurds
The Syrian opposition elected their first prime minister at an Istanbul meeting. The efforts to build an alternative government will continue. They hope that forming…
The PKK and negotiations alla Turca
You can have both covert and overt negotiations in order to solve the problems with an organization pursuing a politico-military strategy. You can keep the negotiations…