DOCSLIB.ORG

Information and Liaison Bulletin

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Information and Liaison Bulletin INSTITUT KUDE RPARD IS E Information and liaison bulletin N° 370 JANUARY 2016 The publication of this Bulletin enjoys a subsidy from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGCID) aqnd the Fonds d’action et de soutien pour l’intégration et la lutte contre les discriminations (The Fund for action and support of integration and the struggle against discrimination) This bulletin is issued in French and English Price per issue : France: 6 € — Abroad : 7,5 € Annual subscribtion (12 issues) France : 60 € — Elsewhere : 75 € Monthly review Directeur de la publication : Mohamad HASSAN Numéro de la Commission Paritaire : 659 15 A.S. ISBN 0761 1285 INSTITUT KURDE, 106, rue La Fayette - 75010 PARIS Tel. : 01-48 24 64 64 - Fax : 01-48 24 64 66 www.fikp.org E-mail: bulletin@fikp.org Information and liaison bulletin Kurdish Institute of Paris Bulletin N° 370 January 2016 • TURKEY: 1128 ACADEMICS CALLING FOR KURD0-TURKISH PEACE ARE BEING CHARGED WITH TREASON • SYRIA: ALTHOUGH A KEY FACTOR IN THE SITUATION, THE KURDS ARE EXCLUDED FROM THE GENEVA DISCUSSIONS BY TURKEY • TURKEY: Mr. ERDOGAN’S ALL OUT WAR TURKEY: 1128 ACADEMICS CALLING FOR KURD0-TURKISH PEACE ARE CHARGES WITH TREASON. he latest news from founder of a religious brotherhood, tion in 2014, including his own son Turkey show the extent which has a great network of —charges that shook his political T to which any expression NGOs, schools, businesses and authority. Convinced that Gulen of disagreement with press organs, is accused of “high had masterminded these accusa - President Erdogan’s treason”, for which the Prosecutor tions, Erdogan declared war on increasingly authoritarian policy is is asking for a sentence of life him. Some 1,800 people suspected immediately accused of treason. imprisonment. The 66 people joint - of being members of his “network” Indeed, it is not even necessary to ly charged with him are very much have been arrested since 2014and express one’s opposition — in the present — mainly former police - nearly 300 of them are awaiting present atmosphere of paranoiac men, including two police chiefs. trial in jail. The Turkish govern - tension everyone is a potential dan - They are accused of being mem - ment is trying (so far without suc - ger to Mr. Erdogan’s authority and bers of an armed organisation and cess) is securing the Imam’s extra - faces serious problems. face sentences of between seven dition from the United States. and three hundred years imprison - Thus, on the 6 th of the month, the ment… Another example: on the 11 th the in absentia trial of Fethullah Gülen Public Prosecutors began a crimi - began in Istanbul, although the While long allied to the Gülen net - nal enquiry for “terrorist propa - accused, who has lived in the USA work, Erdogan quarrelled with the ganda” against the Kanal D broad - for the last fifteen years. This influ - brotherhood after some AKP cast of the “Beyaz Show ”. Why? ential 74-year-old Imam, the Ministers were accused of corrup - Because during the, an actress from • 2 • Information and liaison bulletin n° 370 • January 2016 Diyarbekir had called to try and Turkey’s own laws and interna - Sultanahmet suicide attack in sound the alarm over the human tional treaties to which Turkey is a Istanbul. An hour after this attack, cost of the military campaign now party. These actions are in serious Mr. Erdogan showed, on television, being carried out in Turkish violation of international law. what the French weekly Express Kurdistan. In danger of losing his described on its site as “a strange job and faced with threats from the We demand the state to abandon reaction”, even going so far as to nationalists, the show’s presenter its deliberate massacre and depor - wonder whether the Turkish had to make public apologies. tation of Kurdish and other peo - President was “losing his head”. ples in the region. We also demand Speaking about the attack, However the main target, during the state to lift the curfew, punish President Erdogan immediately the month of January, of Mr. those who are responsible for blamed it on ISIS before dropping Erdogan’s public condemnation human rights violations, and com - any further mention of the Jihadst and prosecution has been the 1,128 pensate those citizens who have organisation and, in less than a academics from 89 universities, experienced material and psycho - minute, concentrating on furious both Turkish and foreign, who, on logical damage. For this purpose attacks on the Kurdish PKK rebels the 11 th , signed an appeal entitled: we demand that independent and — on the signatories of the “We will not be accomplices of this national and international appeal “ We will not be party to this crime ”. This appeal attacks the observers to be given access to the crime ”. Apparently driven rabid by authorities’ policy of indiscrimi - region and that they be allowed to this appeal, the Turkish President nate violence in the country’s monitor and report on the inci - described the signatories as “ pseu - Kurdish region. This appeal has dents. do-intellectuals ” and “ traitors to the been signed by, inter alia , the country ”, calling for over half an famous American linguist Noam We demand the government to pre - hour for the opening of a real Chomsky and the Slovenian pare the conditions for negotiations witch-hunt against them. philosopher Slavoj Zizek, and calls and create a road map that would for the ending of the Army’s cam - lead to a lasting peace, which Erdogan certainly does not lose his paign in the Southeast and the includes the demands of the head where his projects for power resumption of negotiations with Kurdish political movement. We are at stake, It is nore likely that he the PKK to find a peaceful solution demand inclusion of independent deliberately chose to “highlight” the to the Kurdish Question. observers from broad sections of appeal by academics, so as to dis - society in these negotiations. We tract Turkish public opinion from The following is the full text of this also declare our willingness to vol - the sensitive question of Turkey’s appeal. unteer as observers. We oppose relations with ISIS and to direct dis - suppression of any kind of the cussion round the question of sup - As academics and researchers of this opposition. port for his government — and so to country, we will not be a party to his project of a presidential regime. this crime! We, as academics and researchers His brutal attacks on his critics have working on and/or in Turkey, enabled his to renew his policy of declare that we will not be a party reaching out towards the ultra- “The Turkish state has effectively to this massacre by remaining nationalists for support for his pro - condemned its citizens in Sur, silent and demand an immediate ject. Silvan, Nusaybin, Cizre, Silopi, and end to the violence perpetrated by Thus the ultra-nationalist Sedat many other towns and neighbour - the state. We will continue advoca - Peker, (who, incidentally, is a mafia hoods in the Kurdish provinces to cy with political parties, the parlia - chief who has already been sen - hunger through its use of curfews ment, and international public tenced on criminal charges regard - that have been ongoing for weeks. opinion until our demands are ing organised crime), has character - It has attacked these settlements met”. istically mobilised part of this with heavy weapons and equip - Turkish neo-fascist movement in ment that would only be mobilized (The text is translated in several support of the Head of State. He has in wartime. As a result, the right to languages in the Kurdistan site, published on his web site a state - life, liberty, and security, and in http:// http://www.kedistan.net/2016/ ment announcing that the signato - particular the prohibition of torture 01/05/baris-paix-peace-asiti- ries of this appeal should pay for it and ill treatment protected by the kurdistan/ as well as on several with their blood, describing them as constitution and international con - French language blogs). “so called intellectuals ” in ters similar ventions have been violated. to those used by President Erdogan. This deliberate and planned mas - This appeal was published on the Peker added: “ You should rather thank sacre is in serious violation of th 11 , that is the day before the the police and the troops who you have n° 370 • January 2016 Information and liaison bulletin • 3• tried to discredit. If these terrorists were all, 21 academics were subjected to idarity) with those who commit to succeed in their mission of provoking such raids and placed in detention. crimes are themselves guilty of those the failure of the Turkish Moslem State crimes ” (…) “ The fact that they have you would really face moments of terror. This repercussion aroused many some title before their name, professor, The bell would then toll for all of you. reactions in Turkey as abroad, As lecturer or whatever it may be does not Let me repeat: we will make your blood from the 14 th , 558 intellectuals, make them enlightened — they are flow, we will bathe in your blood !”. mainly writers or stage directors, people in deep darkness ”. (…) “ I have Sedat Peker had already drawn published their own declaration: asked the legal institutions and attention to himself before the last “In our hearts we support the aca - University administrations immedi - November’s elections with a speech demics’ call for peace for peace. (…) ately to take the necessary measures in supporting Mr. Erdogan, in which We refuse to see freedom of expression the face of their violation of the he mingled Islamist and fascist ref - so limited.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Iraq: Opposition to the Government in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI)
    Country Policy and Information Note Iraq: Opposition to the government in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) Version 2.0 June 2021 Preface Purpose This note provides country of origin information (COI) and analysis of COI for use by Home Office decision makers handling particular types of protection and human rights claims (as set out in the Introduction section). It is not intended to be an exhaustive survey of a particular subject or theme. It is split into two main sections: (1) analysis and assessment of COI and other evidence; and (2) COI. These are explained in more detail below. Assessment This section analyses the evidence relevant to this note – i.e. the COI section; refugee/human rights laws and policies; and applicable caselaw – by describing this and its inter-relationships, and provides an assessment of, in general, whether one or more of the following applies: • A person is reasonably likely to face a real risk of persecution or serious harm • The general humanitarian situation is so severe as to breach Article 15(b) of European Council Directive 2004/83/EC (the Qualification Directive) / Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights as transposed in paragraph 339C and 339CA(iii) of the Immigration Rules • The security situation presents a real risk to a civilian’s life or person such that it would breach Article 15(c) of the Qualification Directive as transposed in paragraph 339C and 339CA(iv) of the Immigration Rules • A person is able to obtain protection from the state (or quasi state bodies) • A person is reasonably able to relocate within a country or territory • A claim is likely to justify granting asylum, humanitarian protection or other form of leave, and • If a claim is refused, it is likely or unlikely to be certifiable as ‘clearly unfounded’ under section 94 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002.
    [Show full text]
  • Kurdistan Rising? Considerations for Kurds, Their Neighbors, and the Region
    KURDISTAN RISING? CONSIDERATIONS FOR KURDS, THEIR NEIGHBORS, AND THE REGION Michael Rubin AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE Kurdistan Rising? Considerations for Kurds, Their Neighbors, and the Region Michael Rubin June 2016 American Enterprise Institute © 2016 by the American Enterprise Institute. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be used or reproduced in any man- ner whatsoever without permission in writing from the American Enterprise Institute except in the case of brief quotations embodied in news articles, critical articles, or reviews. The views expressed in the publications of the American Enterprise Institute are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff, advisory panels, officers, or trustees of AEI. American Enterprise Institute 1150 17th St. NW Washington, DC 20036 www.aei.org. Cover image: Grand Millennium Sualimani Hotel in Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan, by Diyar Muhammed, Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons. Contents Executive Summary 1 1. Who Are the Kurds? 5 2. Is This Kurdistan’s Moment? 19 3. What Do the Kurds Want? 27 4. What Form of Government Will Kurdistan Embrace? 56 5. Would Kurdistan Have a Viable Economy? 64 6. Would Kurdistan Be a State of Law? 91 7. What Services Would Kurdistan Provide Its Citizens? 101 8. Could Kurdistan Defend Itself Militarily and Diplomatically? 107 9. Does the United States Have a Coherent Kurdistan Policy? 119 Notes 125 Acknowledgments 137 About the Author 139 iii Executive Summary wo decades ago, most US officials would have been hard-pressed Tto place Kurdistan on a map, let alone consider Kurds as allies. Today, Kurds have largely won over Washington.
    [Show full text]
  • Fighting-For-Kurdistan.Pdf
    Fighting for Kurdistan? Assessing the nature and functions of the Peshmerga in Iraq CRU Report Feike Fliervoet Fighting for Kurdistan? Assessing the nature and functions of the Peshmerga in Iraq Feike Fliervoet CRU Report March 2018 March 2018 © Netherlands Institute of International Relations ‘Clingendael’. Cover photo: Peshmerga, Kurdish Army © Flickr / Kurdishstruggle Unauthorized use of any materials violates copyright, trademark and / or other laws. Should a user download material from the website or any other source related to the Netherlands Institute of International Relations ‘Clingendael’, or the Clingendael Institute, for personal or non-commercial use, the user must retain all copyright, trademark or other similar notices contained in the original material or on any copies of this material. Material on the website of the Clingendael Institute may be reproduced or publicly displayed, distributed or used for any public and non-commercial purposes, but only by mentioning the Clingendael Institute as its source. Permission is required to use the logo of the Clingendael Institute. This can be obtained by contacting the Communication desk of the Clingendael Institute ([email protected]). The following web link activities are prohibited by the Clingendael Institute and may present trademark and copyright infringement issues: links that involve unauthorized use of our logo, framing, inline links, or metatags, as well as hyperlinks or a form of link disguising the URL. About the author Feike Fliervoet is a Visiting Research Fellow at Clingendael’s Conflict Research Unit where she contributes to the Levant research programme, a three year long project that seeks to identify the origins and functions of hybrid security arrangements and their influence on state performance and development.
    [Show full text]
  • Games Without Frontiers: Renegotiating the Boundaries of Power in Iraqi Kurdistan
    GAMES WITHOUT FRONTIERS: RENEGOTIATING THE BOUNDARIES OF POWER IN IRAQI KURDISTAN THE MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE MIKE FLEET AND MEGAN CONNELLY JUNE 2021 WWW.MEI.EDU Photo above: Kurdistan parliament speaker Rewaz Faiq (top C), leads a parliament session in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s northern autonomous Kurdish region, on May 25, 2021. Photo by SAFIN HAMED/AFP via Getty Images. Introduction Over the past year, intensifying political and economic conflicts between the Kurdistan Region’s two hegemonic parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of The parties’ efforts Kurdistan (PUK), have challenged the legal and institutional order to renegotiate their in which the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) operates. While financial entitlements power has always been concentrated in an exclusive coalition of and the scope of their partisan elites, the KDP and PUK had each tacitly acknowledged administrative control the other’s de facto autonomy over the territories they governed have so far produced independently from the civil war of the 1990s until the reunification no consensus. of the KRG. But a new generation of leadership within the parties, a fraught relationship with the federal government, and a prolonged economic crisis exacerbated by collapsing oil prices and the global pandemic have strained the KDP-PUK relationship to its breaking point. While the KDP has claimed a majoritarian mandate to govern on a reform platform that eliminates consociational entitlements, the PUK has issued an ultimatum: respect local autonomy and 2 A new generation of leadership, a fraught relationship with [Baghdad], and a prolonged economic crisis exacerbated by collapsing oil prices and the global pandemic have strained the KDP-PUK relationship to its breaking point.” restore an equitable division of power within the KRG or it will in consumer demand during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, withdraw from the governing coalition.
    [Show full text]
  • Change in Iraqi Politics: from Ethnic-Sectarian Lines to Centralization Question
    Change in Iraqi Politics: From Ethnic-Sectarian Lines to Centralization Question Serhat ERKMEN* Abstract After the invasion of Iraq, politics in Iraq was rebuilt in accordance with ethnic and religious lines and the political alliances have been reshaped over these lines. However, the withdrawal of US troops and internal dif- ferences of Iraqi parties triggered new political balances which cannot be limited into only ethnic and sectarian bases. Today, because of the political and strategic effects of Arab Spring and internal power strug- gles among the main Iraqi political groupings Iraq has entered in a new phase in politics which centralization issue will be the focus. Keywords: Iraqi politics, centralization, Arab Spring and Iraq, With- drawal of US troops Özet *SC**4 0B- 4 * ' 0 0 - C*=*=@ * *4 * ***0*40' * C *C =S4***S*- C 0 **0 ****B' C'* **0 *=4* =@ * * Assos. Prof. Ahi Evran University, Department of International Relations, and Middle East Advisor of ORSAM Serhat Erkmen, Change in Iraqi Politics: From Ethnic-Sectarian Lines to Centralization Question, Ortadoğu Etütleri, Volume 4, No 1, July 2012, pp.143-164. Serhat Erkmen According to the author, there are two main reasons that explain the change in the political balances and policy making in Iraq. The first reason is that the United States have started to lose gradually their role both in military and political aspects in Iraq after 2010. Decrease in military power of the US in Iraq in a way that cannot be compared with previous years (even though all the combat troops have retreated, it will not be considered as a complete withdrawal since there are still American troops in Iraq under the name of military advisors) has cre- ated great impacts both in the fields of security and the fields of policy and this phenomenon has enlarged the maneuver room of the Iraqi political parties.
    [Show full text]
  • International Protection Considerations with Regard to People Fleeing the Republic of Iraq
    International Protection Considerations with Regard to People Fleeing the Republic of Iraq HCR/PC/ May 2019 HCR/PC/IRQ/2019/05 _Rev.2. INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION CONSIDERATIONS WITH REGARD TO PEOPLE FLEEING THE REPUBLIC OF IRAQ Table of Contents I. Executive Summary .......................................................................................... 6 1) Refugee Protection under the 1951 Convention Criteria and Main Categories of Claim .... 6 2) Broader UNHCR Mandate Criteria, Regional Instruments and Complementary Forms of Protection ............................................................................................................................. 7 3) Internal Flight or Relocation Alternative (IFA/IRA) .............................................................. 7 4) Exclusion Considerations .................................................................................................... 8 5) Position on Forced Returns ................................................................................................. 9 II. Main Developments in Iraq since 2017 ............................................................. 9 A. Political Developments ........................................................................................................... 9 1) May 2018 Parliamentary Elections ...................................................................................... 9 2) September 2018 Kurdistan Parliamentary Elections ......................................................... 10 3) October 2017 Independence
    [Show full text]
  • Confessionalism and Electoral Prospects in Iraq
    Confessionalism and Electoral Prospects in Iraq Yasir Kouti Dlawer Ala’Aldeen About MERI The Middle East Research Institute engages in policy issues contributing to the process of state building and democratisation in the Middle East. Through independent analysis and policy debates, our research aims to promote and develop good governance, human rights, rule of law and social and economic prosperity in the region. It was established in 2014 as an independent, not-for-profit organisation based in Erbil, Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Middle East Research Institute 1186 Dream City Erbil, Kurdistan Region of Iraq T: +964 (0)662649690 E: [email protected] www.meri-k.org NGO registration number. K843 © Middle East Research Institute, 2017 The opinions expressed in this publication are the responsibility of the authors. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of MERI, the copyright holder. Please direct all enquiries to the publisher. Confessionalism and Electoral Prospects in Iraq MERI Policy Paper Yasir Kouti Research Fellow, MERI Dlawer Ala’Aldeen President of MERI April 2018 1 Contents Summary ........................................................................................................................................................4 Confessionalism and Party Alliances ........................................................................................................5
    [Show full text]
  • Post-ISIS States by Dr
    Background Report VII: September 5, 2017 - April 30, 2018 Post-ISIS States By Dr. Gina Lennox Kurdish Lobby Australia Email: [email protected] Website: www.kurdishlobbyaustralia.com ©2018 Kurdish Lobby Australia You are welcome to share this report but please do not make changes without permission from Kurdish Lobby Australia. 1 Table of Contents Table of Figures ............................................................................................................................ 3 Acronyms ........................................................................................................................................ 4 Summary ................................................................................................................................ 5 Why what is happening in the Middle East is relevant to Australia .......................... 9 What the Australian Government Can Do ........................................................................... 9 Overview ............................................................................................................................. 10 ISIS................................................................................................................................................... 10 Cost of War ................................................................................................................................... 11 Reconciliation and Reconstruction ..................................................................................... 14
    [Show full text]
  • KRG) Area, May 10-22, 2011
    Department of Justice and Police (FDJP) Federal Office for Migration February 1, 2012 Report on Joint Finnish-Swiss Fact-Finding Mission to Amman and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) Area, May 10-22, 2011 Haftungs- und Nutzungshinweis zu Quellen und Informationen Der vorliegende Bericht wurde von der Länderanalyse des Bundesamtes für Migration (BFM) zusammen mit dem Country Information Service des Finnish Immigration Service erstellt gemäss den gemeinsamen EU-Leitlinien für die Bearbeitung von Informationen über Herkunftsländer. Er wurde auf der Grundlage sorgfältig ausgewählter und öffentlich zugänglicher Informationsquellen zusammengestellt. Alle zur Verfügung stehenden Informationen wurden mit grösster Sorgfalt recherchiert, evaluiert und bearbeitet. Alle verwendeten Quellen sind referenziert. Dessen ungeachtet erhebt dieses Dokument keinen Anspruch auf Vollständigkeit. Es erlaubt auch keine abschliessende Bewertung darüber, ob ein individueller Antrag auf einen bestimmten Flüchtlingsstatus oder auf Asyl berechtigt ist. Wenn ein bestimmtes Ereignis, eine bestimmte Person oder Organisation in diesem Bericht keine Erwähnung findet, bedeutet dies nicht, dass ein solches Ereignis nicht stattgefunden hat oder dass die betreffende Person oder Organisation nicht existieren. Die Inhalte sind unabhängig verfasst und können nicht als offizielle Stellungnahme weder der Schweiz oder ihrer Behörden noch Finnlands oder seiner Behörden gewertet werden. Reservations on information, its use, and its sources This report, written by Country Analysis of the Federal Office for Migration in partnership with the Country Information Service of the Finnish Immigration Service is in line with EU Guidelines for Processing Country of Origin Information. The report draws on carefully selected sources that are referenced in the report. Information has been researched, analyzed, and edited according to best practices.
    [Show full text]
  • SOEP-Core – 2016: Individual and Biography (M3/M4, CAPI, with Reference to Variables)
    A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics DIW Berlin / SOEP (Ed.) Research Report SOEP-Core - 2016: Individual and biography (M3/ M4, CAPI, with reference to variables) SOEP Survey Papers, No. 656 Provided in Cooperation with: German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) Suggested Citation: DIW Berlin / SOEP (Ed.) (2019) : SOEP-Core - 2016: Individual and biography (M3/M4, CAPI, with reference to variables), SOEP Survey Papers, No. 656, Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/195366 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle You are not to copy documents for public or commercial Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich purposes, to exhibit the documents publicly, to make them machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. publicly available on the internet, or to distribute or otherwise use the documents in public. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, If the documents have been made available under an Open gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort
    [Show full text]
  • Iraq: Background and U.S
    Iraq: Background and U.S. Policy Updated November 21, 2017 Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov R45025 Iraq: Background and U.S. Policy Summary The 115th Congress and the Trump Administration are considering options for U.S. engagement with Iraq as Iraqis look beyond the immediate security challenges posed by their intense three- year battle with the insurgent terrorists of the Islamic State organization (IS, aka ISIL/ISIS). While Iraq’s military victory over Islamic State forces is now virtually complete, Iraq’s underlying political and economic challenges are daunting and cooperation among the forces arrayed to defeat IS extremists has already begun to fray. The future of volunteer Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and the terms of their integration with Iraq’s security sector are being determined, with some PMF groups maintaining ties to Iran and anti-U.S. Shia Islamist leaders. In September 2017, Iraq’s constitutionally recognized Kurdistan Regional Government held an advisory referendum on independence, in spite of opposition from Iraq’s national government and amid its own internal challenges. More than 90% of participants favored independence. With preparations for national elections in May 2018 underway, Iraqi leaders face the task of governing a politically divided and militarily mobilized country, prosecuting a likely protracted counterterrorism campaign against IS remnants, and tackling a daunting resettlement, reconstruction, and reform agenda. More than 3 million Iraqis have been internally displaced since 2014, and billions of dollars for stabilization and reconstruction efforts have been identified. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al Abadi is linking his administration’s decisions with gains made to date against the Islamic State, but his broader reform platform has not been enacted by Iraq parliament.
    [Show full text]
  • Whose Kurdistan? Class Politics and Kurdish Nationalism in the Middle East, 1918-2018
    LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE Whose Kurdistan? Class Politics and Kurdish Nationalism in the Middle East, 1918-2018 Nicola Degli Esposti A thesis submitted to the Department of International Relations of the London School of Economics and Political Science for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. London, 13 September 2020 Declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others. The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without my prior written consent. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. I declare that my thesis consists of 98,640 words. 2 Abstract This thesis is a study of the different trajectories of Kurdish nationalism in the Middle East. In the late 2010s – years of momentous advance for Kurdish forces in Turkey, Iraq, and Syria – Kurdish politics was deeply divided into competing movements pursuing irreconcilable projects for the future of the Kurdish nation. By investigating nationalism as embedded in social conflicts, this thesis identifies in the class basis of Kurdish movements and parties the main reason for their political differentiation and the development of competing national projects. After the defeat of the early Kurdish revolts in the 1920s and 1930s, Kurdish nationalism in Iraq and Turkey diverged along ideological lines due to the different social actors that led the respective national movements.
    [Show full text]