The End of the PKK
On this episode of American Prestige, Gönül Tol and Djene Bajalan on the current state of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
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The End of the PKK w/ Gönül Tol and Djene Bajalan | American Prestige
Derek welcomes back to the program Gönül Tol, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, and Djene Bajalan, associate professor of history at Missouri State University, to talk about leader Abdullah Öcalan’s call last week for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to disarm and disband. They talk about Öcalan’s history in this conflict, the need to manage his constituencies when announcing this ceasefire, how this fits into Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s plans, whether this move could broaden rights and protections for Kurds in Turkey, the potential implications for Syria, what this means for Kurds elsewhere in the region, and more.
Read Gönül’s book Erdoğan's War: A Strongman's Struggle at Home and in Syria.
Listen to Djene’s radio show/podcast Talking History.
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A Syrian Kurdish woman waves a flag bearing a picture of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan, as people gather in the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli in northeastern Syria to listen to a message from the jailed leader on February 27, 2025.
(Delil Souleiman/ AFP via Getty Images)On this episode of American Prestige, we welcome back Gönül Tol, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, and Djene Bajalan, associate professor of history at Missouri State University, to talk about leader Abdullah Öcalan’s call last week for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to disarm and disband. We talk about Öcalan’s history in this conflict, the need to manage his constituencies when announcing this ceasefire, how this fits into Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s plans, whether this move could broaden rights and protections for Kurds in Turkey, the potential implications for Syria, what this means for Kurds elsewhere in the region, and more.
Read Gönül’s book Erdoğan’s War: A Strongman’s Struggle at Home and in Syria.
Listen to Djene’s radio show/podcast Talking History.
Subscribe to The Nation to support all of our podcasts: thenation.com/podcastsubscribe.
The Nation Podcasts
Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.
Lula Wins Fourth Term, Serbian Students Defeat Ruling Party, US Prepares to Escalate Iran War / American Prestige
Danny and Derek considered helping Flavio Bolsonaro mount a political comeback here in the States, but cut ties on the advice of Danny's psychic. In this week’s news: Israel's election leaves Netanyahu without a parliamentary majority (1:41); Lula wins Brazil's presidential runoff and Flávio Bolsonaro flees Brazil for the United States after his defeat (8:53); Serbia's student-led opposition topples the ruling party (14:33); the United States and Gulf states pursue a new peace initiative with Iran as the United States prepares for another military campaign after the midterms (18:35); a Sudanese military drone strike kills more than 100 people in Nyala (23:55); Turkey hosts talks between Libya's rival governments looking toward reunification (26:01); in the Russia-Ukraine war, Zelenskyy announces peace talks in Abu Dhabi for November (28:50), the two countries observe a local ceasefire near Oleshky to allow humanitarian aid (29:56), and the Trump administration considers major sanctions relief for Russia (32:21); Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado returns to the country (34:50); and apparent cyberattacks disrupt refrigeration systems at U.S. military bases (37:41).
Listen to our full special on the election in Brazil with Andre Pagliarini.
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