Analysts: US move against PKK leaders complicates peace process in Middle East

NEWS DESK

VOA pointed out in a report that the relations between Turkey and the United States improved last month after Turkey released the US priest Andrew Brunson who has been jailed for nearly two years. Both countries also lifted sanctions on the governmental officials imposed in August in the result of the priest's issue.

The agency added, "But some political groups in Turkey have said that the recent US action against PKK leaders would harm the chances of peace in Turkey."

"What the United States has said about the leaders of the PKK is very clear support for the military effort of the Turkish government against the Kurds," said Jiran Ozgan, the representative of the Democratic Peoples Party in the United States.

The agency pointed to the peace process launched in 2013 between the Turkish government and the PKK, and stressed that the two sides were holding talks aiming at ending the conflict that left thousands of victims, but the talks collapsed after two years.

" The peace process is a great opportunity to put an end to a long-term conflict that has killed many people. The United States must support the peace process in the Middle East so we call on the US government to use its influence to push the Turkish government to go back to the negotiating table with the PKK," Ozgan said.

"Erdogan's government has made a very clear decision to freeze the peace process, established an alliance with the strict nationalists, and targeted all the leaders of the Democratic Peoples Party," said the Turkish journalist Ambereen Zaman. "Erdogan shows no sign of changing this course," he added.

The United States has recently awarded a reward of millions of dollars to whoever would reveal the places of the leading figures in the PKK with the intention of targeting them.

The Kurdish parties denounced the American position and considered it as a crime against all the democratic and revolutionary forces in the area and the world.

(T/S)

ANHA