Kurds demonstrate in Strasbourg calling for Ocalan's release, February 2015. Demotix/ Jonathan Rae. All rights reserved.Turkey and the Kurds share the aim of ending their long-standing conflict. So what of the so-called peace process between the Turkish state and the PKK, especially their imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan? And what is the potential role of Kurdish diaspora groups in ‘peace-making’, ‘peacebuilding’ and ‘reconciliation’ processes with Turkey?
I have been exploring the experiences of Kurdish individuals and families in the diaspora, specifically looking at involvement in homeland politics, conflict and peace between April 2014 and May 2015 for my research, facilitating five focus groups and securing interviews with those from different parts of Kurdistan now living in the UK and Germany. In total, my research involved 60 Kurdish adults, of whom 29 were women, and 31 were men, building on work on the Kurdish diaspora in the UK and Germany since 2008.
Middle East conflict and peace process
I want to start by arguing that there is not actually any real peace process in Turkey. The outcome of this research shows that the aim of negotiations – for both AKP and the Kurdish parties, especially the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) – is actually to monopolise power and violence.
