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Turkey, PKK Learn From Past Mistakes

Ankara and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) are striving to avoid repeating past missteps and keep the peace process on track, writes Ilnur Cevik.

Selahattin Demirtas (front C), co-chairman of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), lights a traditional Newroz fire during a rally to celebrate the spring festival of Newroz in Istanbul March 17, 2013. Kurdish parliamentarians set off by boat on Monday to visit Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan in his island prison where they expected him to summon his fighters to cease fire and leave Turkey to help end a 28-year-old insurgency. The conflict has been a major source of instability in Turkey
Selahattin Demirtas (front C), co-chairman of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), lights a traditional Newroz fire during a rally to celebrate the spring festival of Nowruz in Istanbul March 17, 2013. — REUTERS/Murad Sezer

The way the Turkish authorities and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) are handling the recent release of the eight public servants and the ongoing Kurdish spring festivities shows that both sides have learned from past mistakes and are taking special care not to derail the current peace process.

There is a marked difference in the way both sides approach present issues as compared to their actions in the past.

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