Kurds In Turkey Research Articles

Proving injustice: Smuggler killings, impunity work, and vernacular counterforensics in Turkey's Kurdish borderlands

Proving injustice: Smuggler killings, impunity work, and vernacular counterforensics in Turkey's Kurdish borderlands

Corridors of countersovereignty: Insurgency, smuggling, and post-nation-state politics in Turkey's Kurdish highlands

In Turkey's Kurdish borderlands, smugglers occasionally entered insurgent corridors, the guerrilla-controlled mountainous passages, to bypass state control. This article takes insurgent corridors to frame sovereignty as monopolization of space-making and proposes space-making as a key analytic to examine the forms of sovereignty that facilitate or undermine specific extractive practices. As a spatial form, corridors are central to the claiming and exercising sovereignty and extraction without having complete territorial control across a bounded space or the whole population in that space, the territoriality identified with nation-states. By controlling corridor space and monopolizing the traffic in them, colonial empires, nation-states, corporations, and rebel movements exercised sovereignty and extracted value that is carried or generated by corridor traffic. The insurgent corridors further complicate corridor sovereignty as the Kurdish guerillas monopolized corridor-making without monopolizing and extracting the corridor traffic under a post-nation-state political vision that favors grassroots democratized organization of mobilities and livelihoods rather than centralized exclusive authority and biopolitical governance on them. The insurgent corridors constituted what I call countersovereignty, a practice contesting not only the existing state sovereignty but also political models of nation-state sovereignty and territoriality. While anthropologists understand refusal as disengagement from actors claiming sovereign superiority, the insurgent corridor countersovereignty entailed a distinct form of political refusal that rejects mimicking state sovereignty and associated forms of biopolitical governance.

The space of permanent and state-level exceptional security measures: Formative years of Israel and Turkey

Studies examining the spatial patterns of exceptional security measures focus on constructed spaces or national territories exposed to international military intervention. Contemporary literature defines these spaces as zones of lawlessness where the exception prevails. By examining the security policies in the historical homelands of the Palestinians in Israel and the Kurds in Turkey, this article shows how exceptional security and the law co-constitute each other. Through a comparative historical analysis of the formative years of the Israeli and Turkish states, we argue that permanent exceptional security measures in territories inhabited by minority citizens are relevant to the political context in which the constituent power frames the political characteristics of the nation. In the process, exceptional security measures coexisting with the law become instrumental in maintaining and reproducing the distinction between the ‘legitimate members’ of the nation and the ‘enemies’ of the nation/state. The coexistence of exceptional security measures with the legal system challenges the conventional understanding of the exception and its dichotomous relationship with the norm, as outlined by Schmitt and Agamben. Instead, the conceptual framework of ‘legal violence,’ as articulated by Benjamin, offers a more comprehensive perspective for understanding the early years of the Israeli and Turkish states.

Kurdish Mobilization in Turkey and Syria: A Comparison on Action Repertoires

In this article, the collective action repertoires of nationalist Kurds in Turkey and Syria between the years 1918-2018 are compared. This comparison is conducted based on the levels and forms of mobilization. Examples span a broad spectrum including rebellion, protests, legal politics, and mass mobilizations. The findings of the research reveal distinct differences in the action repertoires of the Kurdish conflicts in Turkey and Syria, and the level of violence also varies between the two countries. Employing a qualitative approach, this study uses a multi-case strategy and thematic analysis method. The objective of the study is to provide researchers with a conceptual and empirical framework concerning the action repertoires of Kurdish movements. The results obtained aim to enhance understanding of the repertoire of contention in non-Western societies.

Turkey's Kurdish Insurgency Reappraised (Part I)

As the modern Republic of Turkey—officially established on 29 October 1923—enters its second century and crucial national elections for president and parliament were held on 14 and 28 May 2023 in which the Kurds played a crucial role, this is a particularly important time to reappraise the county’s long-continuing Kurdish insurgency and related events. Over the years, two over-arching, seemingly contradictory themes involving change and continuity have characterised Turkey’s policy toward the Kurds. During Ottoman times (1261-1923) and even into the early Republican days (1923- ), the Kurds were granted a type of separate status befitting their unique ethnic identity. However, probably largely because of the Sheikh Said Rebellion in 1925, Kemalist Turkey abruptly cancelled this policy and instead initiated one of denial, assimilation, and force. The fear was that the Kurds would potentially challenge Turkey’s territorial integrity and divide the state. Only gradually beginning in the 1970s and 1980s, when this position of, denial, assimilation, and the fist had clearly failed, did Turkey cautiously and incrementally begin again reversing its policy and granting the Kurds some type of recognition. Thus this article also will cover the PKK insurgency, as well as Abdullah (Apo) Ocalan’s capture and its consequences. Subsequently, Part II of this reappraisal will bring events up to the present in 2024.

Dilek Kurban, Limits of Supranational Justice: The European Court of Human Rights and Turkey's Kurdish Conflict

Dilek Kurban, Limits of Supranational Justice: The European Court of Human Rights and Turkey's Kurdish Conflict

Theorizing Power in Community Economies: A Women's Cooperative in Northern Kurdistan

ABSTRACTUnder the Democratic Autonomy project, Turkey's Kurdish Movement has pursued self‐governance since the mid‐2000s and promoted cooperatives and communal modes of production across Northern Kurdistan. Drawing upon the engagement of diverse and community economies studies with assemblage thinking, this article utilizes assemblage thinking to expand our understanding of power dynamics in community economies, and to reveal the power‐led processes involved in building and maintaining community economies. The article focuses on the case of a women's cooperative spearheaded by the Kurdish Movement, which managed to circumvent state oppression and stay in business, despite the turmoil that erupted in Northern Kurdistan after the collapse of peace negotiations between the Turkish state and the Kurdish Movement in 2015.

Oppression and internalized oppression as an emerging theme in accessing healthcare: findings from a qualitative study assessing first-language related barriers among the Kurds in Turkey

BackgroundLanguage has been well documented to be a key determinant of accessing healthcare. Most of the literature about language barrier in accessing healthcare is in the context of miscommunication. However, it is critical to consider the historical and political contexts and power dynamics underlying actions. The literature in this matter is short. In this paper we aimed to find out how first-language affects access to healthcare for people who do not speak the official language, with a particular focus on language oppression.MethodsWe conducted this qualitative study based on patient-reported experiences of the Kurds in Turkey, which is a century-long oppressed population. We conducted 12 in-depth interviews (all ethnically Kurdish, non-Turkish speaking) in Şırnak, Turkey, in 2018–2019 using maximum variation strategy. We used Levesque’s ‘Patient-Centred Access to Healthcare’ framework which addresses individual and structural dimensions to access.ResultsWe found that Kurds who do not speak the official language face multiple first-language related barriers in accessing healthcare. Poor access to health information, poor patient-provider relationship, delay in seeking health care, dependence on others in accessing healthcare, low adherence to treatments, dissatisfaction with services, and inability to follow health rights were main issues. As an unusual outcome, we discovered that the barrier processes in accessing healthcare are particularly complicated in the context of oppression and its internalization. Internalized oppression, as we found in our study, impairs access to healthcare with creating a sense of reluctance to seek healthcare, and impairs their individual and collective agency to struggle for change.ConclusionsA human-rights-based top-down policy shift, and a bottom-up community empowerment approach is needed. At the system level, official recognition of oppressed populations, acknowledgement of the determinants of their health; and incorporating their language in official capacities (particularly education and healthcare) is crucial. Interventions should include raising awareness among relevant professions and stakeholders that internalized oppression is an issue in accessing healthcare to be considered. Given that internalized oppression can be in other forms than language or ethnicity, future research aimed at examining other aspects of access to healthcare should pay a special attention to internalized oppression.

Politics of hope and populist backlash: kurds in Turkey and Palestinians in Israel

ABSTRACT Turkey and Israel are known, respectively, for profound conflicts with their Kurdish and Palestinian minorities. Economic and legal liberalization waves raised hopes for expanded civic and socioeconomic inclusion but instead both countries swayed to populism. “Why were the Kurdish and Palestinian politics of hope destroyed and what did it take to do so?” We argue that the HDP and Joint List’s electoral in the 2010s threatened Erdoğan’s and Netanyahu’s authoritarian ambitions and in their endeavours to doom Kurdish and Palestinian aspirations, these leaders and their parties drew on practices and sentiments from the toolkit of populism. While the repression of the HDP has not abated, Netanyahu’s replacement in June 2021 with a diverse coalition, including an Islamic party, has dented Israeli populism but simultaneously forestalled aspirations for civic equality. Despite the dissimilarities between the cases, our comparison teases out the common trends of populist politics that threaten domestic minorities.

Ethnic and Islamist populism in Turkey and its impact on Kurdish nationalism

AbstractRather than addressing the Kurdish conflict in Turkey directly, this study focuses on how the rising nationalist populism bears on Kurdish voters supporting the pro‐Kurdish party HDP. There are very few studies on how Kurds are affected by the nationalist populism often expressed in Turkey by the governing People's Alliance (Cumhur İttifakı) with its slogan “domestic and national,” even though the literature offers a broad variety of studies on the Kurdish conflict. To fill this gap, this study is supported by focus group discussions with the Kurds in Turkey who support the HDP, based on a sample of the Kurds living in Istanbul, which is sometimes referred to as the “largest Kurdish city.” This study claims that the populist slogan of the “domestic and national” not only marginalises the Kurdish interviewees but also weakens their sense of belonging to Turkey, thus encouraging them to establish their own national identities. An important result of the focus group meetings is that AKP's polarising policy not only causes polarisation among Turks but also among the Kurds.

USSR’s Policy Towards the Kurds of Turkey, 1945-1960

This study aims to determine the policy of the USSR toward the Kurds of Türkiye between the years 1945-1960. For this purpose, data were collected from archival documents, photographs, maps, videos, and Turkish, Russian, and English works. The study tests the hypothesis that the main reason for the change in the USSR’s policy towards the Kurds of Türkiye was the victorious emergence of the USSR from World War II. It has been determined that the demands of the victorious USSR from Türkiye and the USSR-West struggle influenced the policy of the USSR towards the Kurds of Türkiye. Depending on the course of the rivalry between the USSR and the West in Iran, Greece, Iraq and Syria, the situation of benefiting from the countries has emerged in implementing the USSR’s policy towards the Kurds of Türkiye. As a result, after the demands of the USSR, the rulers of the Republic of Türkiye directed the country toward the West. Despite the USSR’s renunciation of the demands, the rulers of the Republic of Türkiye continued to remain in the Western camp. For these reasons, it has been determined that the USSR tried to take advantage of the Kurds in Türkiye and other countries against Türkiye and the West.

Turkish Racism Against Kurds: Colonial Violence, Racist Slurs and Mob Attacks

Throughout the 20th century, the modern Turkish state has dealt with ethnically, socially, historically, and religiously defined groups living in the remaining Ottoman territory with different forms of integration and authoritarianism. It built a racialized social regime based on Turkish supremacy, and the state has ruled northern Kurdistan as a colony. This article focuses on Turkish racist slurs and racist mob attacks targeting Kurds in Turkish cities and analyzes them in relation to Turkish colonial domination in northern Kurdistan. It argues that the Turkish army has an important place in making the racialized social regime and producing and disseminating the racialized ideas, slurs and practices targeting Kurds. The article also identifies the year 2005 as a milestone in the history of Turkish-Kurdish relations and Turkish racism. In that year, following the flag-provocation event in Mersin, which was carried out by the Turkish deep-state forces, ‘respect the flag’ demonstrations were organized throughout Turkey. These demonstrations mobilized thousands of Turks around anti-Kurdish sentiments, and since then, the number of racist mob attacks against Kurds in Turkey has increased significantly.

Turkish Islam and Kurdish difference

In this article I discuss the ways in which the Turkish state uses Islam as a weapon to delegitimize and render unnecessary Kurdish distinctiveness and associated rights claims. Drawing on the particular discourse employed by Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a series of political rallies in Diyarbakır, the symbolic capital of Turkish Kurdistan, I highlight key patterns in the instrumentalization of religion to maintain Turkish dominance. The Kurdish question as it is experienced by Kurds of Turkey, contrary to expectations, is not at all a matter of “discrimination” and “otherization.” Rather, the Kurdish problem arises from a lack of recognition of the Kurds as a separate self.

Musical spirits and poetic tongues: oral traditions in the cultural politics of Kurdish intellectuals (1920s-1940s)

ABSTRACT This article examines oral traditions in the discourse of Kurdish intellectuals between 1920s and 1940s. Through a critical and textual analysis of three main publications, namely Hawar [cry for help] (1932–1943), Ronahî [light] (1941–1943), and Roja Nû [new day] (1943 − 1946), it discusses the different ways in which oral traditions were seen as instrumental for crafting national selves, advancing literacy, and disseminating local histories. The article identifies the endeavours of Kurdish intellectuals as a form of romantic nationalism and approaches it within the theoretical framework of John Hutchinson’s cultural nationalism. It shows that Kurdish intellectuals’ interests in oral traditions were the outcome of complex, ideological positions and conditions, and that the cultural and the political were closely intertwined in their pursuits. Exploring those pursuits also informs us of the symbolic and political significance of expressive traditions in the contemporary cultural politics of Kurds in Turkey.

THE DEMOCRATIC UNION PARTY (PYD) AND PEOPLE'S PROTECTION UNITS (YPG) IN TURKISH OFFICIAL DISCOURSE

This article explores the construction of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the People's Protection Units (YPG) in Turkish official discourse. In the article, I employ critical discourse analysis (CDA) to analyze written texts produced during the years 2014–2019 that reflect the position of the Turkish authorities. The article sets out the main narratives that construct the PYD and YPG as terrorist organizations and posits them as a threat to both Turkey and the international community. The analysis reveals that these narratives serve the purpose of delegitimizing the PYD and YPG and legitimizing Turkish military operations and violations against Syrian Kurds. It highlights that the Turkish official position regarding the PYD and YPG is driven by two ideological factors: first, the influence of Kurdish autonomy in Syria on the action of Kurds in Turkey, and second, the barrier that the PYD and YPG have created against the Islamist agenda of Turkey's Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Syria.

The Kurds in Turkey and The Tuareg: A shared history of ‘othering’ and oppression at the peripheries of hegemonic nation-states

Identity politics shape 21st century politics together with political polarization and politics of hate around the globe. The world is moving towards further segregation, xenophobia, and social stratification with the rise of populist leaders. Although the fear of being under attack by the Other is ostensible predominantly in the West, this paper examines the ways non-Western hegemonic nation states demonstrate similar discriminatory attitudes within their national borders. Such divisive attitudes result in many socioeconomic and political conflicts; however, the most urgent outcome manifests itself as threats to national security or civil unrest. Furthermore, the divisive nature of establishing hegemony by marginalizing a certain group affects that same group more than others depending on a given time and place. In this sense, the case of Kurds in Turkey and the Tuareg in the Sahara-Sahel provides the necessary context to elucidate the central role identity politics play in the current political climate. Even though the similarities between the two groups are not apparent at first glance, it is argued that their struggles are similar in relation to their hegemonic environments.

Durukan Kuzu, Multiculturalism in Turkey: The Kurds and the State

Reviewed by: Multiculturalism in Turkey: The Kurds and the State by Durukan Kuzu Leyla Neyzi Durukan Kuzu. Multiculturalism in Turkey: The Kurds and the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. 204 pp. Cloth, $99.99. ISBN: 978-1108278461. Multiculturalism in Turkey: The Kurds and the State is a new and ambitious work which aims to contribute to the literature on national minorities through a case study of the Kurds. As one of the largest stateless populations in the world, with a long-standing resistance movement for recognition and rights, the Kurds have not yet found their deserved place in the theoretical literature, and Kurdish Studies remains a fledgling field. This lacuna means that this book will appeal to readers with an interest in political theory, national minorities, Kurdish studies and history, nationalism, and identity politics in Turkey. Durukan Kuzu's iconoclastic approach is bound to create debate and controversy. This succinct book consists of six main chapters. In chapter 2, Kuzu outlines the emergence of the concept of multiculturalism in political thought. He analyzes civic individualist egalitarianism/assimilationism versus multiculturalism as two different means states have chosen to deal with national minorities. He refers to recent debates in the literature to distinguish between ethnocentric multiculturalism and moderate multiculturalism. In chapter 3, Kuzu compares the experiences of national minorities around the globe, developing a typology which includes recognized minorities (Québécois, Flemish), oppressed minorities (non-Muslims in Turkey, Muslim Turks in Greece), and minorities of assimilation and integration (Kurds, Corsicans). In chapter 4, Kuzu provides a historical overview of the Kurds in Turkey. He suggests that while the non-Muslims were always the state's "Other," the modern Turkish state attempted to integrate Kurds (and other Muslims) on the basis of civic nationalism. He points out that the Kurds in Turkey are heterogenous, being divided by class, ethnicity, language, and religion. He contends that because the Kurds assimilated/integrated, remain internally divided, and maintain multiple identities, ethnicized politics is supported only by a minority. In chapter 5, Kuzu analyzes the Justice and Development Party's approach to the Kurdish issue. He outlines policy changes during the 2000s, such as the creation of a state TV channel broadcasting in Kurdish, the teaching of the Kurdish language in some private schools, the devolution of power to regional municipalities, the changing of laws on crimes of "terrorism," and the initiation of talks with the PKK (the Kurdish Workers' Party). In what might be among the most controversial arguments of the book, Kuzu claims that these reforms failed in so far as they resulted in greater inequalities for Kurds and increased conflict between the Turks and the Kurds. [End Page 273] Chapter 6 is centered on a detailed comparison of the Corsican and the Kurdish cases. According to Kuzu, unlike Ireland, the usual go-to case for comparison, Corsica provides a more apposite parallel to the Kurdish case. Historically, Turkey followed the example of France in pursuing a discourse of civic nationalism. In the case of France, while the majority of Corsicans assimilated to French national identity, a separatist movement also emerged. While the rise of multiculturalist policies led France to give Corsica greater autonomy in the recent period, most Corsicans do not support the separatist movement. Studies have suggested that multiculturalist policies may have exacerbated the conflict. On the basis of his own research, including interviews conducted between 2009 and 2011, the analysis of survey data and secondary sources, Kuzu argues that the Kurdish case bears a striking resemblance to that of Corsica. He goes on to critique multiculturalist policies, suggesting that Turkey needs to develop a moderate approach to provide a balance between civic nationalism and ethnocentric multiculturalism. The strength of this book consists of its attempt to contribute to the theoretical literature on national minorities through a case study of the Kurds, which increases the visibility of a relatively understudied and undertheorized subject. Its weaknesses derive from its overambitious claims, its overreliance on the Corsican case as a fit for the Kurdish one, and, most importantly, from the question of whether its argument squares with the experience of the Kurds—both historically and in the present. While the discourse of the...

Autocratization, permanent emergency rule and local politics: lessons from the Kurds in Turkey

ABSTRACT Emergency rule provides opportunities for aspiring autocrats to subvert democratic institutions while still following constitutional rules. There has been a steady rise in the use of emergency rule for this purpose in recent years, leading many scholars to speak of “permanent” emergency rule. Existing explanations of permanent emergency rule focus on national-level factors, completely neglecting the role of local political dynamics. Our goal is to trace how overlooked local conditions enable the permanency of emergency rule. We do so by looking at one particular autocratizing emergency decree in one province in Eastern Turkey that became permanent during its recent state of emergency: the removal of local elected Kurdish mayors and their replacement with state-appointed trustees. We draw on in-depth interviews, reviews of three local newspapers, and a review of parliamentary records and political statements, to argue that three local conditions were necessary for this process. First, this was not a new policy for this region, which had long been treated as exceptional; secondly, there were high levels of local polarization and zero-sum politics around the ethno-political divide; and thirdly, local politics was highly clientelistic. These reinforcing factors created weak municipal government and enabled its eclipse by an autocratizing centre.

Cavernous politics: Geopower, territory, and the Kurdish question in Turkey

This article expands upon recent attempts to shift focus to the material and earthly aspects of power to explore territorial politics and state power in Turkey's Kurdish-populated southeast or Turkish Kurdistan. It focuses on the limestone caves scattered along the Upper Tigris Valley as a locus of geopower, examining the sociopolitical life of limestone caves in relation to the environmental geographies of oil extraction, development, and counterinsurgency. Examining three historical segments where the limestone caves of the Upper Tigris Valley have become objects of the Turkish state's attempts to govern Kurds and territorialize Turkish Kurdistan, this paper demonstrates the shifting configurations of geopower in Turkey vis-à-vis the Kurdish Question. As geological formations fundamental to the Turkish state's attempts to exert and secure territorial power, the caves of the Upper Tigris Valley have also been central to the ways in which Kurds in Turkey have attempted to unsettle state power and territorial politics. Surveying the workings of geopower through caves in Turkish Kurdistan, the article reveals the uneven and violent ways in which geological formations are entangled with hegemonic territorial politics and counter-hegemonic politics.

How intergroup contact and communication about group differences predict collective action intentions among advantaged groups

Though greater intergroup contact has been shown to predict greater support for social change among advantaged group members, little is known about what occurs during the contact that may encourage members of advantaged groups to become willing to engage in collective action in solidarity with the disadvantaged. We argue that intergroup contact with disadvantaged group members may motivate advantaged group members’ willingness to engage in collective action through the mediating pathway of communication about group differences in power during contact. Two studies tested this proposition by examining how advantaged group members communicate about group differences with disadvantaged groups during contact in two distinct national contexts: White Americans in contact with Black Americans in the U.S. (Study 1) and Turks in contact with Kurds in Turkey (Study 2). In addition, Study 2 extended the research by specifying that it is communication about group differences in power—not communication about group differences in culture—that mediates the relation between advantaged group members’ contact with the disadvantaged and their willingness to engage in collective action in solidarity with the disadvantaged. We discuss the implications of these findings for future research on intergroup contact, along with highlighting the importance of communicating about power differences across group lines.