One Kurdish Peace Deal Could Ignite Another Middle Eastern Conflict
In October 2025, the PKK (Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê, Kurdistan Workers' Party) announced it was withdrawing its fighters from Türkiye to northern Iraq as part of a peace effort with Ankara after four decades of hostilities. The statement said all PKK forces in Türkiye were being pulled back to northern Iraq "to avoid clashes or provocations." This followed the group's May 2025 decision to…
The PKK announced its withdrawal from Turkey to northern Iraq in October 2025, signaling the end of a four-decade-long conflict with Ankara. However, the peace process has since slowed, with Turkey waiting for the PKK to disarm and the U.S.-Israel war on Iran complicating matters. The PKK's decision to dissolve and burn its weapons in July 2025 was met with conflicting statements from its Iranian branch, PJAK, which declared it would neither lay down arms nor dissolve itself.
Should Kurdish forces take up arms against Iran, the repercussions would destabilize the Iran-Iraq-Turkey triangle, potentially igniting another Middle Eastern conflict.
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