The Turkish government’s peace talks with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), against whom they have fought an off-and-on 29 year war, have been stagnating lately, with both sides trading accusations of negotiating in bad faith.
The PKK reiterated its support for the talks, and the ceasefire which is facilitating them, but they have also replaced one of the top political figures in their movement with an outspoken hawk, leading to concerns that the group’s patience is wearing thing.
Murat Karayilan had long served as the acting leader of the PKK in the stead of its jailed founded Abdullah Ocalan, but has found himself replaced in the position by Cemil Bayik, another founder seen as a driving force in their military operations.
Bayik has recently accused Islamist groups with close ties to the Turkish government of attempting to sabotage the talks, saying they had been trying to publicly name Turkish negotiators in the talks in an attempt to scare them away from the controversial negotiations.
Both sides have ample reason to mistrust the other after such a long war, and Bayik’s promotion, even though he had huge power in the group to begin with, is likely to fuel more opposition to the talks.
There is no such thing as bad faith negotiating-negotiation but there is what known as, not wanting to negotiate at all, and that's what is the usual approach by the Turkish government or for that matter the Israelis, which is the reason for negotiation/s taking so long.
It's good to see some people with influence actually want good things for their countries
Good point! After such a long dispute it's hard to come together and trust the others. But at least we're seeing them try.
I don't understand why anyone would try to sabotage the talks? Who wants the war to go on?
Why would people do this? After all, it's their own country at stake!