Columbia International Affairs Online: Policy Briefs

CIAO DATE: 01/2011

One question, any answers? The EU's role in solving the Kurdish question in Turkey

Johanna Nykänen

January 2011

Finnish Institute for International Affairs

Abstract

The Kurdish question in Turkey is one of the most pressing issues facing the EU in its near neighbourhood. It involves a rights-based dimension caused by the lack of cultural rights and freedoms for the Kurds, and a security dimension caused by the violent conflict between the militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Turkish military.