"The Dissolution of the PKK and the End of Its Armed Struggle" with Weysi Dag | MEF Podcast Ep. #363

The Turkish state is currently engaged in an initiative to address the Kurdish question. This effort, marked by symbolic gestures like the recent handshake between ultranationalist leaders and pro-Kurdish MPs, PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan’s statements announcing the dissolution of his movement, and the PKK Congress confirming this, is unfolding amid shifting domestic and regional dynamics. This presentation will explore the context, conditions, and timing of this process, tracing the historical failures to solve the Kurdish–Turkish conflict, Turkey’s tight control over every facet of the current initiative, and its apparent focus on marginalizing Kurdish political voices rather than resolving the issue. Is Turkey genuinely seeking peace, or is it merely consolidating power at the expense of Kurdish aspirations?

Dr. Weysi Dag is a research fellow in the department of international relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the author of The Construction of Kurdish Diaspora Communities and Identities: A Case Study of Kurdish Refugees in Berlin and London (Han-Verlag, 2012) and Voices of the Disenfranchised: Knowledge Production by Kurdish-Yezidi Refugees from Below (Macmillan, 2024). He has published his research in a wide range of academic journals and media outlets, including openDemocracy, The Conversation, the Jerusalem Post, the Times of Israel, and Jadaliyya. He holds a Ph.D. and diploma degree from the Free University of Berlin.