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This paper investigates possible sociopolitical reconciliatory mechanisms to garner support for peacemaking in conflict-torn societies. Building on the Kurdish question in Turkey, associated with a four-decade-long armed conflict that has spilled over into neighboring Syria and Iraq, we identify policies and framing that can attract support for a political solution to the conflict. We highlight the need for a sociopolitical reconciliatory approach that addresses both the hopes of the warring minority and the fears of the majority. The results from an original nationwide survey indicate that minority demands can initially be addressed through a 'soft settlement,' lying between individual and collective rights. Our results point to the need to relax the concept of negotiated settlement, which has become the most frequent approach to ending internal armed conflicts in the post-Cold War era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data collected from a dialogue meeting in Turkey of 19 women participants with different ideological orientations, ethnicities and sects, as well as 10 in-depth follow-up interviews, this article explores the dynamics of listening and emotions in dialogue in multiple-identity conflicts. Considering listening as an important component of agonistic peace, the article aims to understand the conditions that help or hinder listening and one's perception of being listened to in the face of weighty emotions in the context of women's dialogic encounters. The article shows that agonistic listening facilitates the expression of emotions and views, and an interest in Other's story, while an attitude of care stemming from previous experience of working together on women's issues may help transform the antagonistic Other into an agonistic one. However, agonistic listening does not lead to significant perspective change and entails only a temporary suspension of one's categories to lend the Other an attentive ear; it is a conception of listening that recognises the temporary and limited character of listening and the place of emotions in dialogue with the Other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unlike various natural disasters that some studies have highlighted as potential contributors to peace, the threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic is neither short-term nor regionally confined. Thus, rather than invoking a compassionate response, the pandemic is likely to aggravate pre-existing divisions and create an environment that accentuates survival over compassion. Building on a large probability survey data gathered in May 2020 in Turkey, we demonstrate that the pandemic has disproportionally affected minority Kurds and exacerbated pre-existing inequalities and social polarization. Results from a series of regression analyses show growing dissatisfaction with the Turkish government's handling of the pandemic. However, this effect fails to translate into the sense of solidarity between majority Turks and minority Kurds necessary to build a peaceful society. Support for the government's approach to the Kurdish opposition seems to be conditioned by social categorization and increasingly partisan political identities in Turkey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]