Intractable Conflicts and Back-Track Mediation

This book provides an in-depth analysis of mediation, arguing that it represents a vital tool for third-party intervention, and that back-track mediation more specifically, as one of the tools of such intervention, is a pillar of mediation. It further considers the Kurdish question of Turkey and the peace process initiatives between the Turkish state and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) from the first in 1993 to the recently-concluded Oslo Peace Talks in 2011. Rather than focusing on the historicity of the Kurdish issue, this book devotes significant attention to analysing the five peace processes to date by investing the theory of mediation in each process with a view to testing whether each initiative fits the essence of mediation and back-track mediation or not. The book additionally considers two issues of secondary importance:  the reiteration of the emergence of the ‘Kurdish question’ as a regional phenomenon responsible for derailing the Oslo Peace Talks between the parties, as well as the intractability of conflicts and how they have potential to acquire violent, intractable characters. This monograph applies this theoretical knowledge to consider how Turkish and Kurdish conflicts have gradually morphed into an intractable singular conflict.

Mehmet Deniz is an expert on peace and conflict studies, and is interested in intractable conflicts, back-track mediation, and spoilers. He holds a PhD from Lancaster University, UK (2020).