The following report is written by Ali Bayramoğlu, a journalist, writer and political commentator from Turkey.
Mr Bayramoğlu provides an examination of the current situation regarding the opposition bloc’s approach to the Kurdish issue as well as the factors contributing to it, namely the current political climate in Turkey and recent internal and external developments that have a bearing on the Kurdish issue. Through analysing these factors, he sets out how and why the stances of the opposition bloc as a whole and the individual parties within it have developed, and provides hypotheses for the potential ways they may evolve in the future.
Bayramoğlu analyses Turkey’s current political climate, in terms of the dynamics of the different political spheres of the ruling and opposition party blocs, the inter- and intra- relationships between the two, and their respective rhetoric and agendas – noting that the ruling bloc is homogenous, while the opposition bloc is heterogenous. Though they share commonalities as they oppose the new constitutional order and want a return to a parliamentary system, the heterogeneous composition of the opposition bloc largely prevents it from acting wholly in unison.
The author outlines to what extent each of the opposition parties have centralised the Kurdish issue within their platforms and the opportunities and limits they face. Reminding the readers of the possible influences that the changing political climate in Turkey and other developments such as Biden’s election in the United States might have, the author discusses the different ways the situation may further continue and develop, particularly for the opposition bloc.
The views and opinions expressed in the report remain those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of DPI.