"Turkey rethinks the Kurdish question
Once Turkey's achilles heel, the Kurds could become its greatest asset, a buffer against an unstable Iraq and an ascendant Iran
Recent overtures by Turkey towards Kurds within and beyond its borders signify a major policy shift from Ankara. Domestically, Turkish president Abdullah Gul has declared the Kurdish question to be the "country's most pressing problem", while across the border in the Iraqi Kurdish city of Irbil, a conference in February brought together more than 100 officials and academics from both Turkey and the Kurdistan region of Iraq. More notable still is that Gul recently visited Iraq and met Nechirvan Barzani, prime minister of the Kurdistan regional government – the first time a Turkish leader has formally met an official from the Kurdish government."
More:Turkey rethinks the Kurdish question | Ranj Alaaldin | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk