DOCSLIB.ORG

Continuities and Changes in Kurdish Nationalism

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Continuities and Changes in Kurdish Nationalism Continuities and Changes in Kurdish Nationalism Sina Godamoradpoer Master Thesis in Political Science University of Amsterdam Kurdish Nationalism Continuities and Changes in Kurdish Nationalism Author: Sina Godamoradpoer Student number: 5881706 Due date: 24th of June 2016 Words: 25,600 Master Thesis in Political Science University of Amsterdam -- The picture on the First page is of a mural in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq depicting the proclamation of the Republic of Kurdistan in Mahabad. 2 Abstract: In this research it is attempted to explain the continuities and changes in Kurdish nationalism from the 1920s until the present day, this is done by employing the insights generated by the more important approaches to nationalism. These approaches are primordialism, modernism and ethno-symbolism. The method employed to this end, is the method of process tracing, which entails that evidence will be used from a detailed historical narrative to explain the outcome of interest. It is contended in this thesis that nationalism has been present in Kurdistan since at least the 1920s, the date that is considered to be the starting point of the politicization of Kurdish nationalism. Yet in those days Kurdish nationalism is not considered to have had a mass presence among ordinary Kurds. It is also observed in this research that there have been two paths that Kurdish nationalism has traversed, leading to two different variants of Kurdish nationalism, which have been named the conservative and the radical form of Kurdish nationalism. The conservative variant, which is represented by the Kurdistan Regional Government, is the type of nationalism that is less compatible with a modernist account of nationalism, the current orthodox approach to questions relating to nationalism. The other type of Kurdish nationalism, the more radical form, represented by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, is considered to have underwent a transformation in the second half of the 20th century due to processes of modernization in Turkey. Therefore, this variant in turn seems to be less compatible with primordialist or ethno-symbolist accounts of nationalism. The central thesis in this research is therefore that it is difficult to account for the existence and overall development of Kurdish nationalism through the existing paradigms alone. All three approaches to nationalism can be seen to have their merits, yet all three also seem only partially correct. 3 Table of Contents: Introduction: ------------------------------------------------------------- 7-9 Theoretical Framework: Introduction: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 9-12 Primordialism: --------------------------------------------------------------------- 12-16 Modernism: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 16-23 Ethno-symbolism: ----------------------------------------------------------------- 23-27 Conclusion: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 27-28 Methods: Introduction: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 28 Case study design: ----------------------------------------------------------------- 29-31 Process Tracing: ------------------------------------------------------------------- 31-34 Data Collection: ------------------------------------------------------------------- 34-35 Operationalization: ---------------------------------------------------------------- 35-37 Conclusion: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 37-38 4 The Analysis of the continuities and changes in Kurdish nationalism: Introduction: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 39-41 Kurdish nationalism in Turkey: Introduction: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 41-43 Koçgiri rebellion: --------------------------------------------------------- 43-45 Sheikh Said rebellion: ------------------------------------------------------------ 45-47 The republic of Mount Ararat: -------------------------------------------------- 48-49 The Dersim rebellion: ------------------------------------------------------------- 50-52 The PKK and Kurdish nationalism: --------------------------------------------- 52-56 Conclusion: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 56-57 Kurdish nationalism in Iran: Introduction: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 58 The Republic of Mahabad: ------------------------------------------------------- 59-61 After the republic of Mahabad: -------------------------------------------------- 61-63 Conclusion: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 63-64 5 Kurdish nationalism in Iraq: Introduction: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 64-65 First signs of Kurdish nationalism in Iraq: ------------------------------------- 65-66 Kurdish nationalism in Iraq as a mass movement: ---------------------------- 67-72 Conclusion: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 72-73 Kurdish nationalism in Syria: Introduction: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 73-74 The Kurds of Syria: ---------------------------------------------------------------- 74-79 The ‘Arab Spring’ and the Kurds of Syria: ------------------------------------- 79-81 Conclusion: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 81-82 Final Conclusion: ------------------------------------------------------ 82-85 Bibliography: ----------------------------------------------------------- 86-89 6 Introduction: It was on the sixth of March 2016 that exactly one quarter of a century had passed since the Kurds in Iraq took to the streets and spontaneously started an uprising that would set the foundations of what is now the Kurdistan Regional Government or KRG in Iraq (Rudaw 2016). The Kurdistan Regional Government is the as of yet only internationally recognized Kurdish political entity in the historical geographic region called Kurdistan. Since 2013 however a new de-facto autonomous Kurdish region has established itself in northern Syria called Rojava, meaning there where the sun sets in Kurdish, in reference to the western part of a Kurdish homeland. In the dramatic events that have unfolded since the Arab uprisings and the subsequent struggle of the international community with the regime of Bashar al- Assad as well as numerous terrorist groups including the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Jabhat al-Nusra and others, the Kurdish people have gained international attention for their struggle against these aforementioned actors. Yet not only have the Kurdish people attracted attention for their struggle against enemies that have gained worldwide notoriety for cruel behavior, in which case Kurdish female fighters are presented in the starkly contrasting picture of heroines fighting these enemies by international media (CNN 2014, BBC 2014, TIME 2015). The Kurds have also risen in influence and are more powerful an actor in the Middle-East than ever before, with this rise in importance there obviously should also be a concomitant rise of the international community’s understanding of this increasingly important actor. The Kurdish question goes back longer than the present conflicts in the Middle-East however, indeed the Kurds have since long before revolted against the circumstances under which they have lived and still live. In Turkey, for example, from the 1920s onwards there were various uprisings against the Turkish state and a long running guerilla war has been ravaging the country since 1984. Understanding who the Kurds are and more importantly 7 what motivates them in their political behavior should provide for a more solid bases for sound policy towards the Kurds and the geo-strategically important Middle-East. Kurdistan, the geographical area that Kurdish nationalists intend on turning into a state, is approximately the size of France and even though there are hardly any reliable figures on the number of Kurds in the Middle East, the Kurds are generally considered one of the four largest peoples of that region. Yet surprisingly little is known about the Kurdish people, and even though most Kurdish political movements are referred to as ‘nationalist’ in international media (despite claims to the contrary by some of the movements concerned) very little is known about Kurdish nationalism too. It is this gap in knowledge that this thesis will try to address, in an attempt to understand Kurdish nationalism, and thereby the collective behavior of the Kurds, it will be attempted to explain the continuities and changes of Kurdish nationalism since the 1920s (the start of the division of the Kurdish people into the different contemporary states) until the present. To this end, the following research question will be posed: How can we explain the continuities and changes in Kurdish nationalism from the 1920s until the present. Using this research question will allow for a better understanding of Kurdish nationalism over the course of its development. For questions concerning the Sykes-Picot agreements, rivalry between the Persian, the Arab and the Turkish states and generally the geopolitical state of affairs in the Middle-East, to name a few, all to some extent relate to the Kurdish nation. Thus to understand their nationalism is to gain insight in their political behavior, at least to some extent,
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Reconciling Statism with Freedom: Turkey's Kurdish Opening
    Reconciling Statism with Freedom Turkey’s Kurdish Opening Halil M. Karaveli SILK ROAD PAPER October 2010 Reconciling Statism with Freedom Turkey’s Kurdish Opening Halil M. Karaveli © Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program – A Joint Transatlantic Research and Policy Center Johns Hopkins University-SAIS, 1619 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20036 Institute for Security and Development Policy, V. Finnbodav. 2, Stockholm-Nacka 13130, Sweden www.silkroadstudies.org “Reconciling Statism with Freedom: Turkey’s Kurdish Opening” is a Silk Road Paper published by the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and the Silk Road Studies Program. The Silk Road Papers Series is the Occasional Paper series of the Joint Center, and ad- dresses topical and timely subjects. The Joint Center is a transatlantic independent and non-profit research and policy center. It has offices in Washington and Stockholm and is affiliated with the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University and the Stockholm-based Institute for Security and Development Policy. It is the first institution of its kind in Europe and North America, and is firmly established as a leading research and policy center, serving a large and diverse commu- nity of analysts, scholars, policy-watchers, business leaders, and journalists. The Joint Center is at the forefront of research on issues of conflict, security, and development in the region. Through its applied research, publications, research cooperation, public lec- tures, and seminars, it functions as a focal point for academic, policy, and public dis- cussion regarding the region. The opinions and conclusions expressed in this study are those of the authors only, and do not necessarily reflect those of the Joint Center or its sponsors.
    [Show full text]
  • Akturk Suriyenin Review
    Syrian Studies Association Newsletter 16.1 (2011) Book Review: Syria’s Undocumented Kurds Nevzat Bingöl, Suriye’nin Kimliksizleri Kürtler (Syria‘s Undocumented Kurds). Istanbul: Elma, 2004. Reviewd by Ahmet Serdar Akturk. In Suriye’nin Kimliksizleri Kürtler (Syria‘s Undocumented Kurds), Nevzat Bingöl aims to introduce Turkish readers to the Kurds of Syria. Bingöl is a Kurdish journalist from Turkey’s Kurdish Southeast. His earlier publications deal with Kurdish question in Turkey and the war in Iraq from a journalist’s point of view. In this book, Bingöl tackles the Kurds of Syria who, he argues, are not well known in Turkey. He first focuses on Syrian Kurdish political parties by examining their ideas, their relations with other states and other Kurdish parties - both in Syria and in neighboring countries -, and their methods of political struggle. Second, he presents the citizenship problems that Syrian Kurds have been facing since the “exceptional” census of 1962. The book is mostly based on the author’s extensive interviews with local people, leading Kurdish politicians in Syria, and reports prepared by organizations such as the Syrian Human Rights Association, the Syrian branch of International Human Rights Watch, and the German Federal Parliament. The author begins with a discussion of the March 2004 riots and reprisals in Qamishli, which brought the Kurds of Syria to the world’s attention. Proving the saying “soccer is war,” the riots began in the Kurdish city of Qamishli in March 2004 during a match between the city team and an Arab team from the nearby city of Deir ez-Zor, and led to a Kurdish uprising against the Syrian regime.
    [Show full text]
  • Armenian Involvement in the 1925-1946 Kurdish Rebellions in Republican Turkey: Trying to Map the Origins of “Hidden Armenians
    Armenian Involvement in the 1925-1946 Kurdish Rebellions in Republican Turkey: Trying to Map the Origins of “Hidden Armenians By: GARABET K MOUMDJIAN Abstract: The history of Armenian-Kurdish relations extends over centuries. In the 1800’s, Armenians were involved in the Kurdish rebellions in Kurdistan proper. The rebellions were crushed by Ottoman military might.1 After the Armenian Genocide of 1915, a new phase of Armenian involvement in yet a new episode of Kurdish rebellions ensued in Republican Turkey. This new collusion lasted all the way to the late 1930s. The aim of the ARF (Armenian Revolutionary Federation, AKA Tashnagtsutyune) at the time was twofold: Dispersion into the Middle East was considered to be a temporary sojourn and the ARF was adamant in its thinking that Armenians should repatriate to their historic homeland. The ARF attempted such an adventurous plan due to its knowledge that many pockets of Armenians—ergo, what would later become known as “Hidden Armenians”—existed in the Eastern Provinces of the newly established Turkish Republic. Toward the end of World War II there was some optimism that the Soviet Union could reoccupy some of the historical Western Armenian lands and incorporate them into the Soviet Armenian Republic. The ARF, regardless of its ideological opposition to the Soviet Union at the time, agreed to a détente with its arch-enemy for such a nascent purpose. Having access to archival material from republican Turkey, the Soviet Union, Armenia, France, Britain, as well as the memoirs and letters of some prominent ARF leaders involved in the Kurdish rebellions of the time creates a unique opportunity to present a more detailed account about the period under.
    [Show full text]
  • Istanbul Technical University Graduate School of Arts
    ISTANBUL TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES TRANSFORMATIONS OF KURDISH MUSIC IN SYRIA: SOCIAL AND POLITICAL FACTORS M.A. THESIS Hussain HAJJ Department of Musicology and Music Theory Musicology M.A. Programme JUNE 2018 ISTANBUL TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES TRANSFORMATIONS OF KURDISH MUSIC IN SYRIA: SOCIAL AND POLITICAL FACTORS M.A. THESIS Hussain HAJJ (404141007) Department of Musicology and Music Theory Musicology Programme Thesis Advisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. F. Belma KURTİŞOĞLU JUNE 2018 İSTANBUL TEKNİK ÜNİVERSİTESİ SOSYAL BİLİMLER ENSTİTÜSÜ SURİYE’DE KÜRT MÜZİĞİNİN DÖNÜŞÜMÜ: SOSYAL VE POLİTİK ETKENLER YÜKSEK LİSANS TEZİ Hussain HAJJ (404141007) Müzikoloji ve Müzik Teorisi Anabilim Dalı Müzikoloji Yüksek Lisans Programı Tez Danışmanı: Doç. Dr. F. Belma KURTİŞOĞLU HAZİRAN 2018 Date of Submission : 7 May 2018 Date of Defense : 4 June 2018 v vi To the memory of my father, to my dear mother and Neslihan Güngör; thanks for always being there for me. vii viii FOREWORD When I started studying Musicology, a musician friend from Syrian Kurds told me that I am leaving my seat as an active musician and starting a life of academic researches, and that he will make music and I will research the music he makes. It was really an interesting statement to me; it made me think of two things, the first one is the intention behind this statement, while the second was the attitude of Kurds, especially Kurd musicians, towards researchers and researching. As for the first thing, I felt that there was a problem, maybe a social or psychological, of the Kurdish people in general, and the musicians in particular.
    [Show full text]
  • Genealogy of the Concept of Securitization and Minority Rights
    THE KURD INDUSTRY: UNDERSTANDING COSMOPOLITANISM IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY by ELÇIN HASKOLLAR A Dissertation submitted to the Graduate School – Newark Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in Global Affairs written under the direction of Dr. Stephen Eric Bronner and approved by ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ ________________________________ Newark, New Jersey October 2014 © 2014 Elçin Haskollar ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION The Kurd Industry: Understanding Cosmopolitanism in the Twenty-First Century By ELÇIN HASKOLLAR Dissertation Director: Dr. Stephen Eric Bronner This dissertation is largely concerned with the tension between human rights principles and political realism. It examines the relationship between ethics, politics and power by discussing how Kurdish issues have been shaped by the political landscape of the twenty- first century. It opens up a dialogue on the contested meaning and shape of human rights, and enables a new avenue to think about foreign policy, ethically and politically. It bridges political theory with practice and reveals policy implications for the Middle East as a region. Using the approach of a qualitative, exploratory multiple-case study based on discourse analysis, several Kurdish issues are examined within the context of democratization, minority rights and the politics of exclusion. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews, archival research and participant observation. Data analysis was carried out based on the theoretical framework of critical theory and discourse analysis. Further, a discourse-interpretive paradigm underpins this research based on open coding. Such a method allows this study to combine individual narratives within their particular socio-political, economic and historical setting.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Historical Overview
    NOTES 1 Historical Overview 1. Possibly the two best studies of the Kurds in English remain Bruinessen, Agha, Shaikh and State; and McDowall, A Modern History of the Kurds. More recently, see Romano, The Kurdish Nationalist Movement; and Natali, The Kurds and the State. Portions of this chapter originally appeared in other articles and chapters I have published including “The Kurdish Problem in International Politics,” in Joseph, Turkey and the European Union, pp. 96–121. 2. For further discussions of the size of the Kurdish population, see McDowall, Modern History of the Kurds, pp. 3–5; Bruinessen, Agha, Shaikh and State, pp. 14–15; and Izady, The Kurds, pp. 111–20. For a detailed analysis that lists considerably smaller figures for Turkey, see Mutlu, “Ethnic Kurds in Turkey,” pp. 517–41. 3. For a solid study of the Sheikh Said revolt, see Olson, The Emergence of Kurdish Nationalism. 4. For a recent detailed analysis of the Kurdish problem in Turkey, see Ozcan, Turkey’s Kurds. 5. “The Sun also Rises in the South East,” pp. 1–2. 6. For a meticulous analysis of the many problems involved, see Yildiz, The Kurds in Turkey, as well as my analysis in chapter 5 of this book. 7. “Ozkok: Biggest Crisis of Trust with US” Turkish Daily News, July 7, 2003; and Nicholas Kralev, “U.S. Warns Turkey against Operations in Northern Iraq.” Washington Times, July 8, 2003. 8. For recent detailed analysis of the Kurdish problem in Iraq, see Stansfield, Iraqi Kurdistan. 140 NOTES 9. For Henry Kissinger’s exact words, see “The CIA Report the President Doesn’t Want You to Read,” The Village Voice, February 16, 1976, pp.
    [Show full text]
  • History of the Jews
    II ADVERTISEMENTS Should be in Every Jewish Home AN EPOCH-MAKING WORK COVERING A PERIOD OF ABOUT FOUR THOUSAND YEARS PROF. HE1NRICH GRAETZ'S HISTORY OF THE JEWS THE MOST AUTHORITATIVE AND COMPREHENSIVE HISTORY OF THE JEWS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE HANDSOMELY AND DURABLY BOUND IN SIX VOLUMES Contains more than 4000 pages, a Copious Index of more than 8000 Subjects, and a Number of Good Sized Colored Maps. SOME ENTHUSIASTIC APPRECIATIONS DIFFICULT TASK PERFORMED WITH CONSUMMATE SKILL "Graetz's 'Geschichte der Juden1 has superseded all former works of its kind, and has been translated into English, Russian and Hebrew, and partly into Yiddish and French. That some of these translations have been edited three or four times—a very rare occurrence in Jewish literature—are in themselves proofs of the worth of the work. The material for Jewish history being so varied, the sources so scattered in the literatures of all nations, made the presentation of this history a very difficult undertaking, and it cannot be denied that Graetz performed his task with consummate skill."—The Jewish Encyclopedia. GREATEST AUTHORITY ON SUBJECT "Professor Graetz is the historiographer par excellence of the Jews. His work, at present the authority upon the subject of Jewish History, bids fair to hold its pre-eminent position for some time, perhaps decades."—Preface to Index Volume. MOST DESIRABLE TEXT-BOOK "If one desires to study the history of the Jewish people under the direction of a scholar and pleasant writer who is in sympathy with his subject, because he is himself a Jew, he should resort to the volumes of Graetz."—"Review ofRevitvit (New York).
    [Show full text]
  • Rebuilding the City of Aleppo: Do the Syrian Authorities Have a Plan?
    Rebuilding the City of Aleppo: Do the Syrian Authorities Have a Plan? Myriam Ferrier Wartime and Post-Conflict in Syria (WPCS) Research Project Report 19 March 2020 2020/05 © European University Institute 2020 Content and individual chapters © Myriam Ferrier, 2020 This work has been published by the European University Institute, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies. This text may be downloaded only for personal research purposes. Additional reproduction for other purposes, whether in hard copies or electronically, requires the consent of the authors. If cited or quoted, reference should be made to the full name of the author(s), editor(s), the title, the year and the publisher. Requests should be addressed to [email protected]. Views expressed in this publication reflect the opinion of individual authors and not those of the European University Institute. Middle East Directions Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies Research Project Report RSCAS/Middle East Directions 2020/05 19 March 2020 European University Institute Badia Fiesolana I – 50014 San Domenico di Fiesole (FI) www.eui.eu/RSCAS/Publications/ cadmus.eui.eu Rebuilding the City of Aleppo: Do the Syrian Authorities Have a Plan? Myriam Ferrier* * Myriam Ferrier is a research contributor working on the Wartime and Post-Conflict in Syria project (WPCS) within the Middle East Directions Programme at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute in Florence. She holds two master’s degrees in middle eastern politics from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and from Science-Po Paris. Her research focuses on housing and land property (HLP) issues in Syria.
    [Show full text]
  • Culture, Politics and Contested Identity Among the “Kurdish” Alevis of Dersim: the Case of the Munzur Culture and Nature Festival
    Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies Copyright 2019 2019, Vol. 6, No. 1, 63-76 ISSN: 2149-1291 Culture, Politics and Contested Identity among the “Kurdish” Alevis of Dersim: The Case of the Munzur Culture and Nature Festival Ülker Sözen1 Netherlands Institute in Turkey This article analyzes the Munzur Culture and Nature Festival organized by the people of Dersim, an eastern province of Turkey, as a site of political activism, cultural reproduction, and intra-group contestation. The festival began as a group- remaking event for restoring cultural identity, defending locality, and mobilizing Dersimli people in the face of political repression. In time, socio-spatial and political fragmentation within Dersimli society became more prevalent. The festival experience came to reflect and contribute to the debates and anxieties about identity whereby different political groups competed to increase their influence over local politics as well as the event itself. On the one hand, this article discusses the organization of the Munzur Festival, its historical trajectory, and the accompanying public debates and criticisms. On the other, it explores festive sociabilities, cultural performances, and the circulation of politically-charged symbols throughout the event which showcases the articulation and competition of multiple ethno-political belongings which are the Dersimli, Kurdish, Alevi, and socialist ones. The festival’s historical trajectory is dealt as two stages, unified struggle and internal strife, whereby the festival appeared as first a group-remaking then unmaking public event. The paper argues that this transformation is tied to hanging power relations in the local politics of Dersim, and the shifting state policies, namely the phase of repressive control strategies until the mid-2000s and the peace process and political relaxation until 2015.
    [Show full text]
  • Nothing in Its Right Place
    DEMANDS OF JUSTICE AND COMING TO TERMS WITH THE PAST IN THE POST-CONFLICT PERIOD NOTHING IN ITS RIGHT PLACE Nesrin UÇARLAR English Translation: Justyna Szewczyk NOTHING IN ITS RIGHT PLACE DEMANDS OF JUSTICE AND COMING TO TERMS WITH THE PAST IN THE POST-CONFLICT PERIOD NESRİN UÇARLAR Englsh Translaton: Justyna Szewczyk DISA PUBLICATIONS DIYARBAKIR INSTITUTE FOR POLITICAL AND SOCIAL RESEARCH (DISA) NOTHING IN ITS RIGHT PLACE DEMANDS OF JUSTICE AND COMING TO TERMS WITH THE PAST IN THE POST-CONFLICT PERIOD DISA PUBLICATIONS Author: Nesrin Uçarlar Project Management: Murad Akıncılar English Translation: Justyna Szewczyk Publication Identity Design: Bang Medya Visual Documentary Curator: İshak Dursun Junior field researchers: Berivan Alagöz, İshak Dursun Cover Design: Şendoğan Yazıcı Page Layout: Şendoğan Yazıcı Cover Photo: Ubeydullah Hakan Printing: MATSİS MATBAA SİSTEMLERİ - Tevfikbey Mah. Dr. Ali Demir Cad. No: 51 Sefaköy / İSTANBUL Tel: 0212 624 21 11 First Edition: Istanbul, June 2015 ISBN: 978-605-5458-25-6 Copyright © June 2015 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the permission of Diyarbakır Institute for Political and Social Research (DISA). Mimar Sinan Cad. Aslan Apt. B Blok No: 12 21100 YENİŞEHİR/ DİYARBAKIR Tel: 0412 228 1442 Faks: 0412 224 1442 www.disa.org.tr [email protected] Nesrn Uçarlar, receved her PhD from the Department of Poltcal Scence, Lund Unversty n 2009. She works as lecturer at Department of Internatonal Relatons, İstanbul Blg Unversty. She currently conducts a research project on the communty-based restoratve justce n Turkey at Dyarbakır Socal and Poltcal Research Insttute. Her recent studes focus on the elaboraton of the Kurdsh ssue from the vewpont of contemporary poltcal phlosophy n the framework of the concepts such as power, resstance, justce and the poltcal.
    [Show full text]
  • FABRICATING FIDELITY: NATION-BUILDING, INTERNATIONAL LAW, and the GREEK-TURKISH POPULATION EXCHANGE by Umut Özsu a Thesis
    FABRICATING FIDELITY: NATION-BUILDING, INTERNATIONAL LAW, AND THE GREEK-TURKISH POPULATION EXCHANGE by Umut Özsu A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Juridical Sciences Faculty of Law University of Toronto © Copyright by Umut Özsu (2011) Abstract FABRICATING FIDELITY: NATION-BUILDING, INTERNATIONAL LAW, AND THE GREEK-TURKISH POPULATION EXCHANGE Umut Özsu Doctor of Juridical Sciences (S.J.D.) Faculty of Law University of Toronto 2011 This dissertation concerns a crucial episode in the international legal history of nation-building: the Greek-Turkish population exchange. Supported by Athens and Ankara, and implemented largely by the League of Nations, the population exchange showcased the new pragmatism of the post-1919 order, an increased willingness to adapt legal doctrine to local conditions. It also exemplified a new mode of non-military nation-building, one initially designed for sovereign but politico-economically weak states on the semi-periphery of the international legal order. The chief aim here, I argue, was not to organize plebiscites, channel self-determination claims, or install protective mechanisms for vulnerable minorities Ŕ all familiar features of the Allied Powers‟ management of imperial disintegration in central and eastern Europe after the First World War. Nor was the objective to restructure a given economy and society from top to bottom, generating an entirely new legal order in the process; this had often been the case with colonialism in Asia and Africa, and would characterize much of the mandates system ii throughout the interwar years. Instead, the goal was to deploy a unique mechanism Ŕ not entirely in conformity with European practice, but also distinct from non-European governance regimes Ŕ to reshape the demographic composition of Greece and Turkey.
    [Show full text]
  • Kurdish Studies BOOK REVIEWS
    BOOK REVIEWS Minoo Alinia, Honor and Violence against Women in Iraqi Kurdistan. Palgrave Macmillan, 2013, 190 pp., (ISBN: 978-1-137-36700-6). This book is an excellent account of honour based violence in Iraqi Kurdistan or indeed anywhere in the world. Minoo Alinia sets out by positioning Kurd- ish women’s experiences in their socio-political context. Making use of Kim- berle Crenshaw’s concept of intersectionality, Alinia argues that “intersection- al analysis concerns not only oppression but also resistance and struggle…. not only the complexity of oppression but also the complexity and contradic- tory nature of struggles when various forms of oppression intersect” (p. 8). The book structure does exactly that. After locating the book in chapter one, chapter two discusses the historical context of political oppression and re- sistance in this region. This is followed by outlining the intersectionality of women’s oppression in chapter three. Chapter four discusses the relationship between honour, masculinity and violence. The following three chapters ad- dress women’s individual and collective resistances and empowerment. The ideas are then summarised and their implications are discussed in the final chapter. This multi-dimensional study takes different perspectives into account. It analyses 30 interviews with perpetrators, survivors, women activists and the staff of women’s organisations who work in this field. The result is a rich ac- count of honour-based violence in a historical context where militarisation and political violence “reinforce the effects of militaristic thinking” and make violence “a large part of everyday consciousness” (p. 33). Alinia identifies two concepts of honour in her book.
    [Show full text]