Aug. 15 marks the 39th anniversary of the launch of the armed campaign by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party against the Turkish state. The group has evolved over the years, shedding its demands for Kurdish independence. Yet however much it rejects the nationalist label, many Kurds continue to join the group in the hope of forcing Turkey to grant its long-repressed Kurdish minority autonomy at the very least. Failing to resolve the Kurdish issue remains one of the biggest obstacles to democracy in Turkey, says Dutch author Frederike Geerdink.

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