After reaching a deal to help the U.S.-led coalition forces against ISIS, Turkey is nowadays exercising its right to self-defense against the Marxist-Leninist-inspired Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The PKK, in return, stages a string of counter-attacks in the country.

This is not the first time however.

Talha Köse, an assistant professor in Political Science and International Relations at İstanbul Şehir University, elaborated that the PKK has used Rojava, Kobani and Suruç attacks as a pretext to mobilize armed groups on the ground.

Following a notable election success of the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP), Kurdish movements in Turkey have been expected to handle the conflict through legitimate political channels. Yet the PKK is not interested in neither disarmament nor demobilization of its armed groups, explained Köse, who recently appeared on TRTWorld for an interview.