The Kurds, once marginal in the study of the Middle East and secondary in its international relations, have moved to centre stage in recent years. The contributors to The Kurdish Question Revisited offer insights into how this once seemingly intractable, immutable phenomenon is being transformed amid the new political realities of the Middle East.
The Kurds, one of the oldest ethnic groups in the Middle East, are reasserting their identity-politically and through violence. Turkey's essentially democratic structure and civil society-ideal tools for coping with and incorporating minority challenge-have so far been suspended on this issue, which the government is treating almost exclusively as a security problem to be dealt with by force. This study explores the roots, dimensions, character, and evolution of the problem, offers a range of approaches to a resolution of the conflict, and draws broader parallels between the Kurdish question and other separatist movements worldwide.
This volume examines the Kurdish question in Turkey, tracing its developments from the end of the Ottoman Empire to the present day. The study considers: secession; federal schemes; various forms of autonomy; the provision of special rights; and further democratization.
Almost three decades have passed since political violence erupted in Turkey’s south-eastern regions, where the majority of Turkey’s approximately 20 million Kurds live. In 1984, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) initiated an insurgency which intensified in the following decades and continues to this day. Kurdish regions in Turkey were under military rule for more than a decade and the conflict has cost the lives of 45,000 people, including soldiers, guerrillas and civilians. The complex issue of the Kurdish Question in Turkey is subject to comprehensive examination in this book. This interdisciplinary edited volume brings together chapters by social theorists, political scientists, social anthropologists, sociologists, legal theorists and ethnomusicologists to provide new perspectives on this internationally significant issue. It elaborates on the complexity of the Kurdish question and examines the subject matter from a number of innovative angles. Considering historical, theoretical and political aspects of the Kurdish question in depth and raising issues that have not been discussed sufficiently in existing literature, this book is an invaluable resource for students and scholars of Nationalism and Conflict, Turkish Politics and Middle Eastern politics more broadly.
The Kurds with an estimated population of 25 to 28 million people are arguably the largest nation in the world without its own independent state. The Kurdish population spreads into four countries, in an area referred to as Kurdistan. Since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in April 2003, the first free elections in Iraq were held in January 2005, the Iraqi constitution was passed in a referendum in October 2005, and successful elections were held in December 2005. The Kurds are now wielding more political influence over the future of Iraq and the future of Iraqi Kurdistan. These events have given rise to Kurdish expectations of independence; or at a minimum, a federalist Iraq. United States foreign policy can no longer ignore the Kurdish question as it applies to the Middle East and to U.S. creditability on the world stage. This paper will analyze U.S. policy towards the Kurds in the future Iraq. Can Iraq unite with a power sharing agreement between Arab Shiites, Arab Sunnis, and Kurds? If Iraq cannot become united, can a peaceful separation be achieve that will maintain stability in the region? How should U.S. foreign policy proceed?
This book, comprising chapters by leading experts, delves into the complicated nature of Turkey's Kurdish issue. Contributors discusses the evolution of Kurdish nationalism, the contemporary Kurdish movement and its violent legacy, civil society efforts in Turkey's Kurdish region, and the international dimensions of the Kurdish question.
This volume examines the Kurdish question in Turkey, tracing its developments from the end of the Ottoman Empire to the present day. The study considers: secession; federal schemes; various forms of autonomy; the provision of special rights; and further democratization.
