Disarming, demobilizing, and reintegrating the Kurdistan Worker's Party

"This research report by the National Committee on American Foreign Policy (NCAFP) suggests strategies for disarming, demobilizing, and reintegrating (DDR) the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK). To this end, it proposes measures for how the international community and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) can increase pressure on the PKK. It also assesses the political and socio-economic conditions that increase support for the PKK among Turkish Kurds. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is under pressure to act decisively. However, he should avoid military action against the PKK in Northern Iraq, which would have serious repercussions. Military action would undermine Turkey's democratic development, radicalize Turkish Kurds, and risk a regional conflagration that would both adversely affect relations between the United States and Turkey and compromise Turkey's candidacy for membership in the European Union (EU)."--P. 5.