Turkey’s peace process is advancing. In August 2025, three months after the Kurdistan Workers’ Party – commonly known as the PKK – announced its formal disbandment, a Turkish parliamentary committee overseeing reforms as part of the process met. It followed a symbolic disarmament ceremony in northern Iraq, during which Kurdish militants publicly burned weapons.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has hailed the peace moves as a new page in the country’s history. He may not be wrong. The Kurdish insurgency has, after all, raged for decades and presented an ongoing security and human rights concern. But as potentially momentous as these developments are, public opinion in Turkey remains far from optimistic about the chances of lasting peace, particularly given numerous failures over the years. A Research İstanbul survey from early August revealed that just 39% of respondents believe the process will prove successful, with 48% expecting it to fail. The most common reason for this pessimism was fear that the PKK itself might sabotage the process.
