I think Kürt açýlýmý can also be

Kurdish initiatives (for ideas to try to solve the Kurdish problems in Turkey), or

Kurdish developments (to try to explain what is currently happening with the the Kurdish people.) 

Thanks but the thing is why they use it in an ambiguous way.

Clearly initiative is "giriþim" and development is "geliþim" in Turkish. They could chose to say it that way yet they say it using "açýlým" which I believe on purpose so that different people undertand different things.

Believe it or not, ironically I expect it to be "to draw away from Kurds" which may turn out to be the case.

If you look at the newspapers in english, "Kurdish opening" is used. See:

http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/columnists-182824-ankaras-kurdish-opening-and-washington.html

 Agree, but it sounds really odd in English  - "smells like translation".

Kurdish initiative sounds more natural, and makes more sense.

(e.g. in Turkish televizyonu açarýz, but we don´t open the TV in English, we switch it on)

Since there is not a one-word equivalent of "açýlým", we could paraphrase it in context like this:

(Government´s) new Kurdish policy which is free from the restraints of the established status quo.

when we drop the extras, it becomes the governmen´t new Kurdish policy...

By the way, acilim an ac are not the same things. For example the verb yaz means to write; yazýlým on the other hand, means software...

I think that is especially why this word is chosen... it is not really understood,  As a Turkish citizen, it doesn´t mean anything to me more that what it says in the dictionary.  I think, by keeping it mysterious, they are trying to distract people from what they are really trying to do.

This is a wonderful explanation! It was especially delightful for me to read the last sentence.

It doesn´t necessarily mean that I agree with the thoughts.

This translation has made me smile.  It remindeds me of this:

http://www.turkishenglish.com/images/chickentranslate.jpg

Discussing what açýlým means is giving me just a little help to decide the best translation. Considering the political context in which the subject is discussed, I think that Kurdish initiative is a good translation for Kürt açýlýmý. This translation is already being used in the Turkish media:

"Recep Tayyip Erdoðan´s request for a meeting to discuss the government´s Kurdish initiative, announced by the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government about two months ago and seeking to give more freedoms and cultural rights to the country´s Kurds."

Source: http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/yazarDetay.do?haberno=189799

"EU envoys listen to Baykal’s views on Armenian, Kurdish initiatives"

Source: http://www.turkeydailynews.com/news/117/ARTICLE/1810/2009-09-25.html

Also:

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/images/2009_09_14/history-for-the-pkk-in-turkey-2009-09-14_l.jpg

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ads/ads_kurdishinitiative.gif