Peace in Turkey must not become a smokescreen for repression

AFTER more than four decades of war, peace between Turkey and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) seems within reach. Disarmament has begun and is expected to continue throughout the summer; a partial amnesty may also be on the table. Peace could unlock new growth in Turkey’s south-east, where the economy has been ravaged by PKK violence and scorched-earth reprisals from Turkey’s armed forces. The war has already cost Turkey some $1.8trn, according to the country’s finance minister. More than 40,000 people have died. Peace could lay the ground for Turkey to allow its Kurds a measure of well-deserved autonomy. It could also help avert yet more bloodshed in Syria by easing tensions between the PKK’s offshoot there and the new regime in Damascus.