WASHINGTON, July 30 (UPI) -- As Turkey struggles with the so-called Kurdish question and the PKK, Washington should stay on the sidelines or risk upsetting Ankara, analysts say.
Ankara ramped up its efforts to find a political solution to Kurdish ambitions in the region following the defeat of the ruling Justice and Development Part at the hands of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party in March municipal elections.
Government officials are considering a variety of measures meant to counter Kurdish belligerence by easing restrictions on Kurdish television programs and pushing broad militant reconciliation measures.
Kurdish solidarity groups, for their part, are considering whether to move ahead with their own initiatives or wait for statements from Abudllah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, who is expected to announce his own framework Aug. 15.
Ocalan, in statements from July, said his group would not consider surrendering its weapons, while interim PKK leader Murat Karayilan demanded a delisting from national terrorist lists.
Washington has worked with Ankara to address PKK activity by sharing intelligence information on guerrilla movements in Iraq. In Turkey, however, Washington should stay out of the Kurdish fray, writes Soner Cagaptay, a senior fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Peace.
Cagaptay says the PKK and related Kurdish issues are for Ankara to decide, saying Washington support for reconciliation while violence continues may undermine the process.
