For more than four decades, Iran has stayed deeply involved in the conflict between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), often seeking to obstruct deescalation attempts by both sides.
Now the extent of Iran’s influence has become an open question. Can a country weakened by a devastating military confrontation still exercise the regional leverage it wielded for decades? Can Tehran continue to shape developments in a conflict that has long served its strategic interests?
Two Iranian Kurdish opposition leaders and the head of an Ahwazi opposition party told MBN that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) succeeded during the 1980s in cultivating ties with a major faction inside the PKK, which the United States designates as a terrorist organization. According to the opposition figures, the IRGC gave that faction extensive support and used it to exert pressure on its regional rival Turkey whenever tensions between Ankara and Tehran rose.
Those ties deteriorated in 2004 after the PKK established the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), its Iranian affiliate, which later fought armed clashes with the IRGC in Iran’s Kurdish regions. The development angered Tehran, prompting it to sever its relationship with the PKK and shell the group’s positions in Iraq’s Qandil Mountains with heavy artillery.
Although Iran publicly welcomed the PKK’s decision in May 2025 to dissolve itself, the opposition figures argue that Tehran privately views any lasting peace between Turkey and the Kurdish movement as a strategic threat. They contend that Iran wants neither stability for Turkey nor improved relations between Ankara and the Kurds, fearing that expanded Turkish influence would come at the expense of its own economic and security interests and strengthen what it regards as Western influence in the region.
Tehran is also concerned that some PKK militants who reject disarmament could join Kurdish groups opposed to Iran. Tehran is believed to retain influence over some factions within the organization despite its formal dissolution and could, at least theoretically, attempt to disrupt the peace process.
Skepticism on Both Sides
PKK-affiliated activists and individuals close to the organization in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region rejected claims that the group maintains ties with the Iranian government. They told MBN that the PKK has repeatedly come under Iranian attack in recent years and has fought multiple confrontations with the IRGC.
The decision to dissolve the organization and pursue a peace initiative followed a call by the PKK’s imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan, they said, stressing that the movement remains committed to advancing the peace process.
A Reuters report in May found that both Ankara and the PKK have been reluctant to take the next step in negotiations, slowing efforts to end a conflict that has lasted more than four decades.
Based on interviews with Turkish officials, lawmakers and PKK representatives, Reuters reported that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government and the armed group alike have avoided bold moves amid continued regional instability.
The Turkish government has hesitated to introduce legislative reforms, including a possible amnesty for former PKK fighters and granting Ocalan an official role in the peace process.
While Ankara insists the PKK must fully disarm before any political concessions, the group argues that surrendering its weapons first would leave it vulnerable, and therefore legal guarantees should precede disarmament.
Little Room for Iran
Turkish journalist and Middle East researcher Ismail Goktan said the peace process has gained momentum in recent days after a legal framework was presented to President Erdogan, potentially paving the way for Kurdish fighters to return to Turkey and participate in political and social life.
On June 24, Erdogan announced that his government was preparing legislation designed to accelerate the dismantling of the PKK as part of its “Turkey Without Terrorism” initiative.
While Goktan does not rule out the possibility that Iran may seek to interfere in the peace process, he expressed doubt that Tehran still possesses the tools to meaningfully influence Turkish affairs.
“Syria has been freed from Iranian domination, Iranian-backed militias in Iraq have been contained and drawn into the state as part of efforts to regulate unauthorized weapons, and Kurdish armed opposition groups refused to intervene during the recent war or attack Iran,” Goktan told MBN. “Following the military blows dealt to Iran by the United States and Israel, Tehran no longer has sufficient mechanisms to interfere in the peace process between Turkey and the Kurds.”
The Executive Council of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), the umbrella organization that includes the PKK, has accused the Turkish government of delaying implementation of the peace agreement and criticized Ankara’s proposed legal framework for dismantling the group.
In a statement, the KCK leadership said neither Ocalan nor the Kurdish movement would accept a policy of imposing faits accomplis, warning that presenting legislation as a take-it-or-leave-it proposition would amount to a continuation of conflict rather than a genuine peace effort.
The organization also threatened not to implement decisions adopted during the congress that voted to dissolve the PKK unless the Turkish government fulfills its commitments and releases Ocalan to oversee implementation of the peace process.
Turkish security adviser Levent Kemal said there is little basis for claims that Iran could shape, let alone control, the peace process, particularly given Turkey’s balanced stance during the recent U.S.-Iran-Israel conflict.
“Although Iran’s lobbying network in Turkey has become more active because of the war, it lacks the ability to influence Turkey’s peace policy,” Kemal told Alhurra. “Outside Turkey, the environment created by the conflict has led Kurdish parties in northern Iraq to support the ongoing peace process, viewing it as an opportunity for economic growth. No one is likely to jeopardize that for Iran’s sake.”
As for the possibility that Iran could use allied armed groups in Iraq to undermine either Turkey or the peace initiative, Kemal said any such attempts by the Popular Mobilization Forces would likely be deterred or exposed through coordination among Ankara, Erbil and Baghdad.
Semi-Official Criticism
Iranian media sharply criticized Turkey’s peace initiative in July, blaming Ankara for the violence stemming from the decades-long conflict with the PKK.
A report published by Eghtesad News, a news outlet considered close to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, argued that despite Ankara’s peace initiative, Turkey’s constitution still does not recognize Kurdish identity and that Kurds have been denied equal rights and compelled to fight.
“After a century of denying Kurdish identity and existence, the Turkish government now speaks of peace,” the report said. “If Turkey peacefully grants the Kurds their rights, they are prepared to accept that step and lay down their arms.”
The report also argued that Turkey has reached a point where it can no longer defeat either the PKK or the broader Kurdish movement through military means alone.
Strategic affairs analyst Alaa Al-Nashou said Iran views the success of the Turkish peace process as a direct threat, believing it could trigger political, security and military challenges inside Iran, particularly in the country’s northwestern Kurdish regions, and encourage broader unrest against the Islamic Republic.
“The success of the peace process—and its emergence from the current stalemate caused by regional instability and the U.S.-Iran conflict—would mark a turning point in Turkey’s international standing,” Al-Nashou told Alhurra. “That is precisely what Iran seeks to prevent, as it has consistently pursued policies that foster regional instability.”
