The Beginning of the End?

Of a conflict, that is. As mentioned in this BBC article (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8359582.stm) , Turkey's government has proposed a plan to end the conflict in Turkey's Kurdish-dominated southwest. It seems from the article like a fairly reasonable bill, though I must admit I haven't read the original, my Turkish being a little rusty. Turkey has already started a government run Kurdish-language TV channel, and these new reforms would include free use of the Kurdish language.

That being said, it is far from settled as the PKK (Kurdish guerilla group, considered to be a terrorist group by the US State Department as well as the EU) has said that one precondition for a peace settlement would be amnesty for rebels. This is not part of the plan which the Turkish government has proposed. Still Turkey is trying to make progress, though it should be noted that this is certainly partly a way of reducing the barriers to Turkey joining the EU. More to come as this story develops.

P.S. Sorry for the long sabbatical, if you will. I'm going to try to post with some frequency from now on. Its good to be back.