Kemal Kirişci is the TÜSİAD senior fellow and director of the Center on the United States and Europe's Turkey Project at the Brookings Institution.

Melis Cengiz is a Brookings’ Center on the United States and Europe intern.

[1] The Turkish military had launched a very destructive campaign with massive human-rights violations in response to the PKK’s attempt. The PKK was then forced to retreat to northern Iraq and Öcalan was eventually caught and tried for treason.

[2] Demirtaş has managed to appeal to some outside the Kurdish electorate, partly thanks to a political agenda that promoted a more left-leaning agenda of social inclusion and minority rights (including women). It is possible that once in parliament, HDP could become a refreshing voice in support of a more liberal democracy in Turkey.