The everyday violence of forced displacement This research was funded by WOTRO Science for Global Development, a division of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). ISBN 978 90 3610 225 4 © Miriam Geerse, 2010 Printed by Rozenberg Publishers Lindengracht 302 d+e 1015 KN Amsterdam The Netherlands Tel.: +31 (0) 20 6255429 [email protected] The everyday violence of forced displacement Community, memory and identity politics among Kurdish internal forced migrants in Turkey Het alledaagse geweld van gedwongen ontheemding Gemeenschap, herinnering en identiteitspolitiek onder Koerdische gedwongen interne migranten in Turkije (met een samenvatting in het Nederlands) Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit Utrecht op gezag van de rector magnificus, prof.dr. J.C. Stoof, ingevolge het besluit van het college voor promoties in het openbaar te verdedigen op vrijdag 7 januari 2011 des middags te 4.15 uur door Mirjam Theodore Geerse geboren op 27 december 1969 te Dronten Promotoren: Prof.dr. A.C.G.M. Robben Prof.dr. M.M. van Bruinessen To Azad and Göksel Table of Contents Acknowledgements, teşekkür, dankwoord ix List of figures and illustrations xiii Maps xiv 1. INTRODUCTION 1 Setting the stage: the conflict, the displacement, the migrants, the research 4 Researching forced displacement 13 The dissertation in brief 25 2. DEALING WITH NEAR TOTALIZING EXPERIENCES: PERSPECTIVES ON POLITICALLY-INDUCED DISPLACEMENT 29 The Turkish state and the problem with assimilating a people that ‘does not exist’ 32 Forced migration: a totalizing experience? 35 War-related and other forms of violence 39 Dealing with displacement 42 The evidence of experience 47 3. DISPLACED FROM ALİMLER: A STORY FROM A TO Z 51 Before the PKK: political and other kinds of oblivion 53 The entrance of the PKK 66 Life in Istanbul 75 Reflection: Wrapping up the story… 88 4. ‘THE STATE’, ‘THE PKK’ AND ‘THE PEOPLE’ 91 Stories and dominant narratives: the narratable and the unnarratable 92 Stories about ‘The State’ 96 Stories about ‘The PKK’ 119 Stories about ‘The People’ 139 Reflection: ‘The State’, ‘The PKK’ and ‘The People’ 154 5. LEAVING THE VILLAGE AND SETTLING IN THE CITY 159 The exodus from the countryside: 1950s – 1970s 163 Forced migrations 171 Forced migrants: finding houses and jobs 184 Reflection: forced expulsion and agential migration? 198 6. URBAN TROUBLES, URBAN SUPPORT? 205 Social security and support: the government and the NGOs 207 TABLE OF CONTENTS vii The power of state discourse about Kurds 220 ‘Sympathetic’ NGOs 231 Reflection: urban troubles, urban support? 234 7. HEALTH MATTERS: THE BENEFITS AND DRAWBACKS OF ‘THE SOCIAL’ 239 The potential benefits and drawbacks of ‘the social’ 240 Kurds, health and social capital 247 The successes of social capital 252 The failures of social capital 254 Reflection: illness, social capital and structural violence 274 8. CONFLICT, CAPITAL AND CONTROL: “WE SOLVED THAT ONE TOO” 279 Dispute resolution in Turkey 283 DEHAP and disputes 287 Three conflicts, three interventions 299 Reflection: ‘peacetime’ capitalizing on a ‘wartime’ inheritance 295 9. CONCLUSION: TURKISH DISPLACEMENTS – FIXATING ‘MATTERS OUT OF PLACE’ 321 Violence and agency 322 Remembering despite the absence of ‘props of memory’ 325 Structural violence, political violence and social capital 327 Notes on time and location in the aftermath of forced migration 331 Future research 336 Once again: the evidence of experience 338 Glossary 341 Appendix 346 References 348 Samenvatting 367 Acknowledgements, teşekkür, dankwoord The research for and writing of this dissertation often seemed a never-ending story: it did not compare to the relatively smooth realization of my M.A. thesis, which was based on fieldwork in Utrecht, my hometown. Doing research in an immensely vast city in a ‘foreign’ country, with 10 if not 100 thousands of people who fit the criteria for participation, with a seemingly infinite number of possibilities, opportunities and choices, turned out to be rather difficult. This is all the more reason to thank the people who helped me to realize this work. First, and from the bottom of my heart, I want to express my gratitude to the people who participated directly in my research, the forcibly migrated Kurdish individuals and families on whose lives this dissertation is based. In the stressful circumstances of urban life, it can’t always have been easy to find the time and energy to reiterate painful memories, to talk about their social lives, and to try and meet my sometimes not too clear expectations. I thank all of them for their hospitality, openness, patience and the insight they provided, especially ‘Zehra’, who was always very warm, helpful and cheerful, and the people who introduced me to the forced migrants, among them ‘Gül’, ‘Abdurrahman’, ‘Celal’, ‘Halit’, ‘Ali’, the late ‘Cengiz’, and the chairman of the ‘Vadiyeli’ village association. I will never forget what these people did for me. Besides the forced migrants, I am indebted to all people at nongovernmental organizations who shared their knowledge about the research topic, and who offered other kinds of support too. Among these organizations were Göç-Der, Başak, the Human Rights Association, Mazlum-Der, the Accessible Life Association, TOSAV, TOHAV, Kayy-Der and the TİSK Working Children Bureau. I am grateful to the person who provided me with a huge pile of Turkish academic and otherwise relevant literature. Several religious teachers and some ‘unattached’ Kurdish individuals also provided relevant information. I thank them all. In addition, I want to thank the people at the Research and Counseling Centers, Pendik Municipality and the Sultanbeyli Community Center for enlightening me about important aspects of their work practice. The many board and other members of HADEP/DEHAP/DTP, who helped move the research forward, deserve a special word of thanks. I hope they are okay with my depiction of some of their work for the party and of their involvement with forced migrants. I would also like to thank the scholars, journalists and then university students that I spoke with in Turkey for their valuable insights and suggestions. I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to Sevim, my sister-in-law who looked after Hazal and Zara four days a week, who was like a mother to them, and who is still very important to all of us. I thank Göksel’s other relatives too, for their hospitality and friendship, and all the other people in Turkey who x ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, TEŞEKKÜR, DANKWOORD contributed to my research in one way or another, but who are not mentioned here by name or by the name of their organization. After my return from Turkey, the Cultural Anthropology Department at Utrecht University became a second home to me. I want to thank everybody at the department for this. All those at the department who read and commented on chapters, thank you. I especially want to mention Marieke Denissen and Katrien Klep, with whom I shared many stories, preoccupations and joys and who both became much appreciated friends, Geert Mommersteeg - the department’s uncrowned king of zelfspot, Gerdien Steenbeek with her infectious energy, and Marie-Louise Glebbeek who organized the department’s first Sinterklaas happening ever. A special word of thanks also goes to Marimar Azofra, Petra Nesselaar and Kootje Willemse for the support they provided. Kootje never made it feel as if she was extending favors, even though she sometimes was. My supervisors, prof.dr. Martin van Bruinessen and prof.dr. Ton Robben, had an important impact on the contents of this dissertation. I am grateful to them for their long-term involvement in this project and for their critical feedback. Alex Argenti Pillen’s comments on one of the chapters were extremely motivating and insightful. I owe many thanks to her. Olaf Oudheusden’s making of a radio documentary about my research in 2005 stimulated me to carry on at a time when I could do with some encouragement. I want to thank Olaf, and also the people that I worked with in 2007 and 2008 at the Free University in Amsterdam. They provided me with the opportunity to carry out field research into a different - albeit related - topic in an entirely different setting. My close cooperation in this project with Nicole Brenninkmeijer and other researchers made me realize that there are joyous ways of doing academic research which are less solitary. Besides, this project made me look at my Ph.D. research in fresh ways. Furthermore, I would like to thank the people I spoke with at the Koerdische Arbeidersunie and other people in The Netherlands who shared their knowledge on my research topic or related topics. I was very happy that Reber Dosky translated and transcribed several interviews from Kurdish to Dutch. I am also grateful to The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) for funding this research, to the Jurriaanse Stichting for financing this book’s publication, and to Auke at Rozenberg Publishers for his interest in my work and good humor. With regard to the people who offered emotional support, I first want to express my deepest gratitude to my mother. She was always there to talk to, she looked after Hazal and Zara, and she offered all sorts of logistic and practical assistance, from pulling down wallpaper to ironing laundry. Thank you, mama. Had my father still been alive, he would have supported me in any way he could too, and I know he would have been proud of me. I also thank my brothers and sisters - Esther, Chris, Harry, Hans, Heleen and Ruth - and their partners - Martien, Paulien and Rubert - for the interest they took in my well-being and ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, TEŞEKKÜR, DANKWOORD xi research. Ruth and Heleen, thank you for your sisterly advice, deep engagement in my welfare, and for your assistance with the book cover and summary.