A top Turkish prosecutor launched a case to ban the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP), in the latest series of crackdown against the third largest party in the parliament, accelerating the democratic backsliding in the country. This short analysis explains the background of this 90s-inspired move and what it means for the Turkish politics and the Kurdish issue, including a take at Erdogan’s odds at the Constitutional Court vote.
A week into Turkey’s offensive in Northern Syria against the Syrian Kurdish militants, US and Turkey reached an agreement in Ankara, which the US side calls a ceasefire and the Turks call a pause. While bringing a temporary relief in the conflict, the agreement falls short of delivering any long-term solutions. The agreement might seem a win for Ankara but the new realities on the ground, a week into the conflict, seem harder to establish a border-long safe zone – which is Turkey’s end goal. This is certainly not a long-sought win for Turkey’s Erdogan. At least not yet.
Following the defeat of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AKP in big cities including the capital Ankara and megalopolis Istanbul in the local elections in March and June 2019, many expected change in the AKP leadership and some relaxation in the tightly-centralized new executive presidential system. Six months after the elections, it is the opposite.
