The preliminary peace talks that are being conducted between Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the PKK, and the representatives of the Turkish state have occasioned many comments about the nature of Turkish nationalism. It is widely acknowledged that the possible solution of the longstanding conflict with the Kurds will ultimately alter the way Turkey is defined as a nation. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has in unequivocal terms distanced himself from nationalism, saying that his government finds Turkish and Kurdish nationalism equally repugnant. Some commentators have objected, saying that Turkish nationalist sensitivities must be taken into account, while others question the conventional assumption that Turkish nationalism really is ingrained and impossible to overcome.

The emerging alliance of interests between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) has led several Turkish commentators to express the worry that the solution of the Kurdish problem – unexpectedly – might go hand in hand with the imposition of an authoritarian system. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said that his party is prepared to act together with the BDP in order to put a new constitution (that would introduce a presidential system and simultaneously expand Kurdish rights) to a referendum, while the BDP leader Selahattin Demirtaş has stated that the AKP is the party that is closest to the BDP. Meanwhile, the focus of the debate over the Kurdish issue has started to shift to the question of the Turkish identity. Mümtaz’er Türköne, a leading Turkish nationalist intellectual, has stirred a major debate, including drawing a wave of reactions in social media, after a series of columns in which he has declared that Turkish nationalism as fulfilled its historic mission and has to be abandoned.

The reactions to the resumed talks between the Turkish government and Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), are generally cautious among the Turkish commentators. What is especially notable is that several of those Turkish commentators who have earned a name as experts on the Kurdish issue are particularly circumspect, expressing severe doubts about the prospects of the resumed peace process; notably, they question the motives of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and point out that the Turkish government isn’t offering any comprehensive solution to the Kurdish question, only talking about disarming the PKK. Although that secures the consent of the Turkish majority to having talks with Öcalan, an agreement that disregards the Kurds’ demands will not be viable, they warn.