Haris Doukas is a member of the Eurocities Executive Committee and the mayor of Athens. Vasil Terziev is the president of the B40 network and the mayor of Sofia. On a dry late August afternoon, we stood outside Silivri — the high-security prison west of Istanbul, where Ekrem İmamoğlu, the elected leader of Europe’s largest city, has been detained for months. Behind us, Turkish civil society leaders held aloft banners; beside us were colleagues from his municipal team; and around us were a quiet but resolute crowd of supporters, including six other local leaders from large cities across Europe. It wasn’t the visit we had planned, but it was powerful all the same. In that moment, what struck us most wasn’t just the absence of the man we had traveled to see — and to whom national authorities had denied us access. It was the presence of his values echoing from every voice that spoke. Hope, we realized, isn’t incarcerated by prison walls. And everything we witnessed only deepened our resolve to stand by our fellow city leaders and defend local democracy. What we heard in Istanbul wasn’t despair but moral strength. İmamoğlu’s colleagues told us of how he remains engaged even behind bars, how he still asks about city projects and encourages his team to stay the course, insisting that the work of building a more inclusive, sustainable Istanbul continues. He isn’t the only target. Dozens of opposition mayors in Turkey have been arrested for dubious charges in recent months. Any local leader who dares to govern differently, who poses a threat to the central government’s grip, will be punished — that’s the message. Istanbul is the country’s economic engine, and its democratic mandate is being steadily eroded. But even under such immense government pressure, the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality continues to serve its people. Acting Mayor Nuri Aslan told us how the city is still pushing forward with policies to improve life for all its residents — more public transportation, support for women, migrant integration and earthquake resilience. We also met with İmamoğlu’s wife, Dilek, who has become a still yet powerful voice for justice despite threats to her family. And her resilience reminded us that political repression doesn’t just affect the individuals targeted but their families too. This visit wasn’t our first act of solidarity. Back in March, just days after İmamoğlu’s arrest, over 80 European mayors joined a public declaration, coordinated by Eurocities, calling for his release and for EU action. This mission was built on that commitment. So, why should this matter to Brussels? Because Turkey remains an EU candidate country, which presupposes rule of law. It’s also a crucial trading partner and a strategic neighbor. Turning a blind eye to political repression at the bloc’s borders sends a dangerous signal — not only to Ankara but to other regimes that are watching. The EU’s credibility as a defender of democracy is at stake here. Back in March, just days after İmamoğlu’s arrest, over 80 European mayors joined a public declaration, coordinated by Eurocities, calling for his release and for EU action. | Laura Guerrero/Barcelona City Council And why should it matter to mayors across Europe? Because city leaders aren’t just local administrators, they’re defenders of democratic values. Throughout history, cities have been places of openness, diversity and dialogue. That’s what makes them so threatening to authoritarian regimes, which fear example not ideology. Moreover, democracy doesn’t just disappear overnight. It begins with legal harassment, budget cuts and disinformation. Then it escalates. We’ve seen it before, and we’re seeing signs of it again — not just in Turkey but also uncomfortably closer to home. For example, Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony, who joined our delegation, faces similar pressures in Hungary. Yet, he still came to Istanbul. Not for himself but to show solidarity — because he understands democracy must be defended beyond borders. Nowadays, cities must become diplomatic actors in their own right. They can’t wait for national governments to lead. And we’re inviting EU institutions to join us in this fight. Until now, their response has been weak at best — a bland statement here, a half-hearted expression of concern there. Only the European Parliament and the Committee of the Regions have spoken with any real clarity on the matter, but they lack the tools to act. And for all its rhetoric about defending European values, the European Commission seems unwilling to do so. That’s why we’re calling for a meeting with the European Commissioner for Enlargement to discuss how Turkey’s EU accession process and pre-accession funds relate to this assault on democracy. We’re also asking that the European Council put this case on its agenda. Together, we can lift the bars erected to confine local democracy in Turkey — and in Europe. Our commitment doesn’t end with this mission. We will continue to advocate, organize and speak out. We owe it to İmamoğlu, and to every city leader risking their freedom for their citizens. Democracy begins locally. If we don’t defend it here, we risk losing it everywhere.

Turkey has claimed half of the Aegean Sea falls under its area of marine influence, escalating a territorial spat with Greece over where to put ocean conservation zones. The move comes after Greece said it would create marine parks in waters Turkey considers its own. On Monday, Turkey submitted to UNESCO a so-called maritime spatial plan, an official document which sets the marine areas where activities including fishing, tourism and renewable energy projects can take place. It also underpins the creation of marine protection zones. Even though the spatial plan does not define the country’s exclusive economic zone, the map prepared by Ankara University reflects several of Turkey’s long-standing territorial claims, many of which conflict with those of neighboring Greece. Greek officials complained the map effectively splits the Aegean Sea in half, claiming the maritime zones of numerous Greek islands into Turkey’s proposed maritime jurisdiction. “Ankara’s map is not based on any provision of international law and produces no legal effect,” Deputy Foreign Minister Tasos Chatzivasileiou told Greek radio on Tuesday. “It reflects the long-standing Turkish positions but has no legal force. Greece will move [to respond] at all levels.” The move comes a week after the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced that legal procedures for the creation of Greece’s first two marine parks, a contentious issue with neighboring Turkey, will begin this month. Speaking at the United Nations ocean summit in Nice, Mitsotakis said the two marine parks will be established in the Ionian Sea and in the Southern Cyclades region of the Aegean Sea as a first step. The move comes a week after the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced that legal procedures for the creation of Greece’s first two marine parks. | Dumitru Doru/EPA Greece faced a fierce reaction from Turkey last year when it initially announced plans to set aside some of the waters between the two countries for ecological sustainability. Ankara is contesting the sovereignty of some of the maritime territory involved. The exact location of the maps has not been made available yet, but, according to Greek officials, the Southern Cyclades park will not involve contested areas. Turkish concerns are more likely to focus on the Dodecanese islands and nearby islets, which were part of earlier proposals but are left out of the Greek government’s current planning. Turkey asserts that the Greek islands are not entitled to full maritime zones beyond 6 nautical miles. Greece upholds the position that this is against international maritime law. In the Eastern Mediterranean, Turkey’s map extends to the boundaries outlined in a Turkish-Libyan maritime memorandum signed in 2020, an agreement that Athens rejects as illegal and invalid. It also highlights some areas licensed to the Turkish Petroleum Corporation for exploration activities. In April, Greece completed its national Maritime Spatial Plan and published the official map, outlining its maritime zones in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean, after years of delays that drew rebuke from the European Commission. Ankara rejected the Greek plan, arguing that it infringes on Turkey’s claimed maritime jurisdiction in both regions, and criticized what it described as Greece’s unilateral approach.

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) announced Monday that it will disband and disarm, ending 40 years of conflict with Turkey. The announcement follows a February call by PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, who has been imprisoned on an island near Istanbul since 1999, for the group to hold a congress and formally dissolve. According to Öcalan, the PKK has outlived its original mission. In March, the PKK declared a unilateral ceasefire with Turkey amid political signals from Turkey’s ruling coalition suggesting the PKK leader could be granted parole if the group disbanded. The group, which had been designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the EU and the U.S., has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984, claiming tens of thousands of lives.

The Turkish authorities confirmed on Sunday the arrest of Swedish journalist  Joakim Medin, according to Agence France-Presse. “Wanted for the crimes of ‘belonging to an armed terrorist organization’ and ‘insulting the president,’ the individual was arrested on arrival at Istanbul airport on March 27 and incarcerated,” the Turkish government’s center for combating misinformation reportedly said. The journalist’s incarceration comes in the context of huge protests in Istanbul against the arrest of opposition leader Ekrem İmamoğlu. The Istanbul mayor — who is widely viewed as the main challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan — was arrested last week on corruption charges. Medin’s arrest also comes on the heels of the deportation of Mark Lowen, a correspondent for the BBC, as well as the imprisonment of a dozen Turkish journalists covering the demonstrations. However, the Turkish government said the warrant targeting the Swedish reporter has “nothing to do with journalistic activities.” It is about Medin’s participation in a demonstration by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Stockholm back in 2023. The PKK is labeled a terrorist group in a lot of European countries, including Sweden. The presence of PKK members in Sweden is at the heart of the complicated relationship between Turkey and the Nordic country. It’s one of the reasons why Turkey was one of the last countries to approve Stockholm’s bid to join NATO last year — and Ankara eventually extracted concessions including extraditions of Turkish citizens residing in Sweden. Erik Larsson, who heads Reporters Without Borders in Sweden, criticized Medin’s arrest. “This is an assault not only on Joakim Medin, but on all of us. We have the right to know what is going on in Turkey,” he said.

Istanbul’s jailed Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, the top rival to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said his lawyer had also been arrested on false pretenses. “There is no end to lies or slander … This time, my lawyer Mehmet Pehlivan was detained on fictitious grounds,” İmamoğlu wrote late Thursday night. “As if the coup against democracy was not enough, they cannot tolerate the victims of this coup defending themselves. They want to add a legal coup to the coup against democracy. The evil that a handful of incompetent people are inflicting on our country is growing. Release my lawyer immediately,” he added. According to Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet, Pehlivan was taken to a police station where individuals are processed following their arrest. No formal charges were immediately announced. İmamoğlu, widely regarded as the main political rival to longtime ruler Erdoğan, was initially arrested on March 19 and then formally detained by Turkish authorities on March 23 on corruption charges pending trial. His arrest sparked massive protests across the country, with critics denouncing it as a politically motivated “coup.” Turkish authorities have arrested nearly 1,900 people since demonstrations began following İmamoğlu’s initial detention.

Listen on * Spotify * Apple Music * Amazon Music Ekrem İmamoğlu, Istanbul’s mayor and the main political rival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has been arrested. So what is Europe doing about it? Staying pretty quiet, it seems. Mass protests are breaking out across Turkey but Brussels is keeping its counsel. In this episode Sarah Wheaton speaks with Aslı Aydıntaşbaş, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former journalist in Turkey, about what’s really driving Erdoğan’s shift toward authoritarianism and how Europe is responding — especially with a view to Turkey’s growing importance for European security. But Europe’s focus isn’t all on defense. We also examine some of the EU’s overlooked policy changes, from food and textile waste to agriculture and medicine shortages. Sarah is joined by Politico’s experts on sustainability, agriculture and health — Marianne Gros, Bartosz Brzeziński and Rory O’Neill — for an insightful dive into what’s going on behind the scenes.

The European Commission on Monday urged Ankara to “uphold democratic values,” as Turkish authorities escalate a crackdown against the opposition and free media. Popular opposition leader Ekrem İmamoğlu was arrested Sunday on corruption charges and booted out of his office as Istanbul mayor. Protests have now roiled Turkey for nearly a week, since President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s police first detained İmamoğlu, and authorities have locked up more than a thousand demonstrators and detained journalists. “The arrest of the mayor İmamoğlu and the protesters give rise to the questions regarding Turkey’s adherence to its long-established democratic traditions,” said Commission spokesperson Guillaume Mercier. “As a Council of Europe [the international human rights organization] member and EU candidate, Turkey must uphold democratic values. The rights of elected officials as well as right of peaceful demonstration need to be fully respected,” he added. However, the spokesperson said that at this stage he “will not speculate on possible cancellations” of high-level dialogues between the EU and Turkey scheduled for April. İmamoğlu, a highly popular secularist who was widely viewed as a contender to oust Erdoğan, was on Monday officially nominated as a presidential candidate by opposition — despite being jailed on Sunday.

Turkey took a sharp turn toward full autocracy on Sunday when President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s main political rival, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, was jailed amid a major crackdown on the opposition. İmamoğlu, a highly popular secularist who was widely seen as the most likely next president to succeed the Islamist Erdoğan, responded with an impassioned call for mass demonstrations to save democracy in the NATO heavyweight of 86 million. A court on Sunday formally arrested İmamoğlu on corruption charges pending trial, in a step that the opposition argues is a politically motivated “coup.” He was also formally removed from office as mayor of Turkey’s biggest city, on the very day that he was expected to be voted in as the official presidential candidate for the Republican People’s Party (CHP). “Türkiye woke up to a great betrayal today. The judicial process being carried out is not a judicial procedure. It is a complete extrajudicial execution,” İmamoğlu said on his X account. Since İmamoğlu’s initial detention on Wednesday, tens of thousands of supporters have taken to the streets in more than a dozen cities, sometimes clashing with riot police and facing water cannon, even in conservative strongholds such as Erdoğan’s hometown of Rize. The protesters turned out despite bans against demonstrations imposed since İmamoğlu’s detention and attempts to limit broadcasting of the popular anger. ERDOĞAN BEATEN AT THE BALLOT BOX Erdoğan’s backlash against the opposition comes after the CHP’s unexpectedly convincing victories in cities nationwide in the municipal elections of 2024, even in districts that had long been strongholds for the ruling AK Party. In a stark warning to the protesters of the possible consequences of their actions, Erdoğan described the demonstrations as “street terror” and also had a message for the CHP to which his arrested rival belongs. “We will definitely not allow the CHP and its supporters to disrupt public order and disturb the peace of our nation through provocation,” the president said in a message posted on X. İmamoğlu has maintained a defiant tone since his detention and issued a call for voters to support him as the CHP candidate to take on Erdoğan in presidential elections, due by 2028. The now ex-mayor is the sole candidate in the party’s presidential primary, which is still taking place on Sunday with signs of a high turn-out. Tens of thousands of supporters have taken to the streets in more than a dozen cities, sometimes clashing with riot police and facing water cannon. | Adem Altan/Getty Images “You will be defeated one way or another,” İmamoğlu said to Erdoğan on X, calling on Turkey’s entire population to take part in the CHP primary. “I invite my 86 million citizens to run to the ballot box and announce their struggle for democracy and justice to the entire world,” he said. “I stand tall, I will never bow down.” Soner Çağaptay, of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, saw İmamoğlu’s arrest as a decisive moment in Turkish political history. He argued that Turkey had now switched from what he called “competitive authoritarianism,” in which the opposition has a chance to win elections stacked in Erdoğan’s favor, to a straightforward authoritarian system. “So from that point on, I think Turkey is an authoritarian system, sadly,” Çağaptay told POLITICO. UNPRECEDENTED ATTACK Since his detention, İmamoğlu has been interrogated for more than nine hours by the authorities and has categorically denied the charges against him.  On Wednesday, two separate investigations were launched against him and more than 100 others including politicians, businessmen and journalists. The investigations came a day after university authorities cancelled İmamoğlu’s diploma, a necessary requisite for running in the presidential election. In the investigation that provided the grounds for Sunday’s formal arrest, the Istanbul chief public prosecutor’s office accused İmamoğlu of “establishing and managing a criminal organization, taking bribes, extortion, unlawfully recording personal data and rigging a tender.” The prosecutor’s office also voiced “strong suspicion” that İmamoğlu had been involved in “aiding an armed terrorist organization,” a reference to alleged ties with pro-Kurdish groups. The court system has not yet given a definitive ruling on the terror charges. The leader of İmamoğlu’s party also suggested that Erdoğan was even seeking to take over the opposition CHP itself.  CHP Chairman Özgür Özel announced an extraordinary congress on April 6 to eliminate the possibility of Erdoğan’s government appointing a trustee to run the party.  “They want to appoint a trustee to Atatürk’s party,” Özel said, referring to the founder of modern day Turkey and of the CHP itself, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The authorities have detained 343 protesters, while a number of opposition social media accounts were blocked and the bandwidth of social media platforms was restricted. | Yasin Akgul/Getty Images “We will announce to all of Turkey that we are blocking any attempts at a trusteeship by taking the party to an extraordinary congress,” he added. Erdoğan’s judicial and law enforcement apparatus has also launched an unprecedented attack on the main opposition and its supporters.  The authorities have detained 343 protesters, while a number of opposition social media accounts were blocked and the bandwidth of social media platforms was restricted. WhatsApp, a popular means of communication for Turks, was not available at times. During the five days of demonstrations, pro-government media shied away from reporting on the street protests. While he was in detention, other investigations were initiated against İmamoğlu, accusing him of irregularities linked to nurseries the Istanbul municipality opened. Since İmamoğlu came into office, more than 90 investigations were opened against him and his aides.  Erdoğan’s erstwhile long-term political ally, former President Abdullah Gül stepped in to remind Erdoğan that he too was arrested in the past and sent to prison.  “What was done to President Tayyip Erdoğan and to me in the past should not be done to Ekrem İmamoğlu either … We must not lose the rule of law and justice. Otherwise, Türkiye will lose,” Gül said. In 1998, Erdoğan was convicted for inciting religious hatred and banned from politics after reciting a poem when he was mayor of Istanbul. WHAT HAPPENS NOW? The Turkish constitution limits presidents to two terms and Erdoğan’s current term ends in 2028. If parliament calls for early elections, Erdoğan, 71, could legally run again before finishing his second term.  Several observers reckon Erdoğan’s gambit is to go for early elections without running against İmamoğlu, as the 54-year-old is seen by many as the only unifying candidate who could beat him in the presidential elections. (While Erdoğan has said he won’t fight any more elections, he has a track record of pretending to step back from politics and his words are not taken seriously by most Turks.) İmamoğlu has won three fiercely fought contests to run Turkey’s biggest city — and, significantly, the CHP last year managed to flip several traditional districts of Istanbul that Erdoğan viewed as reliable bastions for his Islamist AK Party. Erdoğan’s government says the investigations are not politically motivated but the whole crisis is caused by the “corruption within the CHP.”

Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu can be forgiven for losing count of the dozens of often bewildering court cases and investigations that the authorities have leveled against him. That’s the price you pay when you emerge as the main rival to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. İmamoğlu, a charismatic 53-year-old secularist and one of Turkey’s most popular politicians, is expected to become the opposition’s presidential challenger this month at a meeting of his Republican People’s Party (CHP) on March 23. İmamoğlu has won three fiercely fought contests for Turkey’s biggest city — and, significantly, the CHP last year managed to flip several traditional districts of Istanbul that Erdoğan viewed as reliable bastions for his Islamist AK Party. Given those successes, it’s little wonder that Erdoğan’s authorities have conjured up a dizzying array of legal proceedings to slow İmamoğlu down, or — in the extreme scenario — jail him. He is due before a prosecutor for one of the cases this week. Istanbul is particularly sensitive territory for the Islamist government because Erdoğan himself also used his mayorship of the megacity as a springboard to secure power in a NATO heavyweight country of 85 million people. İmamoğlu’s lawyer Mehmet Pehlivan described “a broad legal offensive against [the mayor’s] political activities.” He told POLITICO that since İmamoğlu became mayor six years ago, 42 administrative and 51 judicial investigations had been opened against him and his office.  İmamoğlu himself says the president is seeking to jail him for up to 25 years.  The cases range from the serious to the downright surreal. One of the allegations is that he kicked the tomb of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror, who captured what was then Constantinople from the Byzantines more than half a millennium ago. Another is that minibuses procured by his administration were not suitable for the streets of the biggest island in the Sea of Marmara off Istanbul. At the more serious end, the state has leapt on his criticism of a top prosecutor to suggest he was threatening an official engaged in “fighting terrorism.” That trial is set to begin next month at Istanbul’s ominously named 14th Heavy Penal Court. Of the judicial investigations, which cover allegations such as threats, misconduct in office, tender-rigging, and bribery, 29 have so far been closed. Five are at the trial stage. Soli Özel at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna said the flurry of legal activity reflects the growing sway of Istanbul’s mayor. Fully committed to the lawfare offensive, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan himself has accused the CHP of theft, corruption and irregularities. | Adem Altan/AFP via Getty Images “Today, İmamoğlu is the biggest threat to Erdoğan’s government or his chances of being reelected,” he said. “The cases filed by the judiciary, one after the other when deemed necessary, are to eliminate this threat.” A presidential election is only due by 2028, but the AK Party is on the back foot after a poor performance in provincial elections last year. Erdoğan, aged 71, has said he won’t be standing again — but Turks take his repeated assertions of a withdrawal from politics with a pinch of salt. Fully committed to the lawfare offensive, Erdoğan himself has accused the CHP of theft, corruption and irregularities, alleging that the non-AK media is whitewashing the opposition.  The AK Party did not immediately respond to a request for comment. DIPLOMA DISPUTE With the CHP on course to nominate İmamoğlu as the party’s presidential candidate March 23, all eyes are on his appearance before a prosecutor this week. That session is supposed to provide evidence about his 1994 university diploma and whether it was forged. The timing may well not be coincidental, as the diploma is part of the paperwork for a presidential bid. Istanbul’s chief prosecutor’s office launched the probe on Feb. 22 following a report by Turkey’s higher education council that looked into his transfer from one university to another. İmamoğlu’s supporters say the document is not faked. “The government’s tactic is clear,” said Turan Taşkın Özer, a CHP member of parliament for Istanbul. “By exerting pressure on the judiciary, they are launching unimaginable lawsuits. At times, legal principles are completely overturned.”  The Istanbul mayor already has one prison sentence hanging over his head. In 2022, a judge ruled he should spend two years and seven months in jail for insulting the electoral authorities who canceled the 2019 vote in which he first won the Istanbul mayorship. (The word he used was “fools”; he went on to win both the rerun and reelection.) Since the case is under appeal, İmamoğlu is still at liberty — but his lawyer Pehlivan described it as an attempt to prevent him from running in future elections. Curiously, the more recent debate about İmamoğlu’s diploma echoes earlier controversy about whether Erdoğan himself had the necessary university degree to qualify as a presidential candidate. (The Turkish constitution specifies that the president must be over 40 and have completed higher education.) But Murat Yetkin, the founder of YetkinReport, an independent news outlet, argued that Erdoğan perceives the Istanbul mayor as a threat precisely because he is his exact opposite. “In almost all of the cases filed, there is a request for a prison sentence long enough to impose a ban” on the politician running for office, Yetkin said. “So this risk is real.”  Ekrem İmamoğlu, a charismatic 53-year-old secularist and one of Turkey’s most popular politicians, is expected to become the opposition’s presidential challenger this month. | Chris McGrath/Getty Images He added that the CHP’s other main prospective presidential candidate, Mansur Yavaş — the relatively low-key Ankara mayor — might well face similar legal challenges.  “We are fighting against a despotic system that views eliminating political opponents by any means necessary as a legitimate approach,” said Özer, the Istanbul member of parliament. He noted that the CHP mayor of Esenyurt, Istanbul’s most-populous district, has been arrested; as has the mayor of Beşiktaş, the city’s richest municipality. A third CHP mayor of an Istanbul district is in custody. The opposition remains defiant. “We are not the kind of people who take positions or step back in response to threats,” Özer said.  “We will continue to say, ‘Bring it on!’”

The outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Kurdish militant group, on Saturday declared a cease-fire with Turkey, following a call from its imprisoned leader, Abdullah Öcalan, to disarm and dissolve. The announcement comes after four decades of armed conflict that has claimed more than 40,000 lives.   The PKK’s statement said the cease-fire was aimed to “pave the way for the implementation of leader Apo’s call for peace and democratic society,” referring to Öcalan by his widely used nickname . The group added that “none of our forces will take armed action unless attacked,” but it stopped short of declaring its disbandment, stating that such a decision could only be taken under his direct guidance and within a broader political process. Öcalan’s call comes amid political signals from Turkey’s ruling coalition suggesting the PKK leader, imprisoned on an island off Istanbul since 1999, could be granted parole if the group disbanded. In his message, Öcalan argued that armed struggle was no longer a viable solution and urged Kurdish political movements to seek democratic participation . Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan welcomed the development, calling Öcalan’s appeal a “historic opportunity” for ending the conflict. His government signaled it would closely monitor the situation to ensure a full PKK dissolution but has also demanded that affiliated groups in Iraq and Syria follow suit. Spanish socialist lawmaker Nacho Sánchez Amor, the European Parliament’s lead member on Turkey relations, described Öcalan’s call as a “historic step” and urged both sides to seize the moment for an inclusive political resolution. The PKK, designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the EU and the U.S., has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984, initially seeking an independent Kurdish state before later shifting its demands toward greater autonomy and rights for Kurds. Past ceasefire attempts — most notably a 2013-2015 peace process — collapsed amid renewed violence .