As Turkey teetered on the edge of civil war, on 19 September, the PKK Kurdish guerrillas reaffirmed that they were ‘ready to commit to a bilateral ceasefire leading towards a permanent solution through negotiations.’
The PKK called for the European Union to take on a ‘third party delegation’ role, to observe both sides during the negotiation process.
The PKK called a ceasefire in March 2013, but said it was effectively over in July, after Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan resumed airstrikes on PKK positions in northern Iraq.
The renewed fighting takes place just before a re-run of parliamentary elections on 1 November. Elections in June saw the pro-Kurdish HDP break into parliament and rob Erdogan’s AKP of its majority.