Unrest As Incentive for Cooperation? the Diversionary Peace Theory, Turkish-Syrian Relations and the Kurdish Conflict

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Unrest As Incentive for Cooperation? the Diversionary Peace Theory, Turkish-Syrian Relations and the Kurdish Conflict Department of Government Bachelor thesis paper in Political Science, 15 credits Fall 2016 Supervisor: Arda Gücler Unrest as Incentive for Cooperation? The Diversionary Peace Theory, Turkish-Syrian Relations and the Kurdish Conflict Linus Mattsson 1 Abstract The aim of this paper is to investigate the link between internal and external conflict of states in the field of International Relations. More specifically, it is a critique of the Diversionary War theory, which argues that political leaders can instigate foreign conflict to divert the attention from domestic issues in order to secure their political positions. This paper will test an alternative approach to the Diversionary War theory called the Diversionary Peace theory, which inverts the logic of the original theory. It argues that leaders facing domestic strife have incentives to cooperate with other states in order to deal with the internal problems in a more cost effective way. Using process tracing methodology, the Diversionary Peace theory is applied to Turkey from 1984-1999, to understand how the Kurdish issue as a source of domestic conflict in Turkey affected the Turkish-Syrian relations. The Diversionary Peace Theory would assume that as the Kurdish conflict escalates at the domestic level, Turkey would be inclined to give concessions to Syria to deescalate conflict at the international level. This paper proves otherwise: as the domestic conflict escalates, relations actually deteriorate and cooperation becomes less likely. Therefore, it is both a critique of the Diversionary War theory and the Diversionary Peace theory. The main interpretation of the findings is that the theory is not applicable to those cases where the boundaries between domestic and international realms are too porous as in the case of the Kurdish politics. When the domestic conflict and international dispute is interlinked, as in this case, I argue that cooperation might not be possible. Future reseachers in the area are advised to pay attention to whether the domestic factor and the international factor are interlinked, how the level of domestic conflict affects foreign relations and the impact of domestic audience costs. Keywords: Diversionary Peace theory, Diversionary War theory, international conflict, Turkey, Syria, Kurdish conflict, process-tracing. 2 Contents 1. Introduction..............................................................................................................................4 1.1 Outline..............................................................................................................................7 2. Background of the case............................................................................................................8 3. Theoretical framework............................................................................................................11 3.1 Diversionary War theory................................................................................................11 3.2 The Critiques of Diversionary War theory....................................................................13 3.3 Diversionary Peace theory.............................................................................................15 4. Methodology...........................................................................................................................17 4.1 Operationalization.........................................................................................................19 4.2 Material.........................................................................................................................20 4.3 Limitations of Research design and material...............................................................21 5. Investigation...........................................................................................................................21 5.1. Initial condiditons: 1984-86 – the Kurdish uprising...................................................21 5.2 Period 1: 1991-93 – from guerilla warfare to open conflict..........................................23 5.3 Period 2: 1994-96 – escalation of the conflict..............................................................25 5.4 Period 3: 1997-99 – height of the conflict.....................................................................27 5.5 Discussion......................................................................................................................29 5.6 Suggestion on further research ....................................................................................31 6. Conclusion..............................................................................................................................33 7. References...............................................................................................................................34 7.1 Academic sources..........................................................................................................34 7.2 Miscellaneous sources..................................................................................................36 3 1. Introduction Why do states go to war? This has been a fundamental question in the field of international relations since its beginning. The outbreak of war has been explained through wide sets of theories, such as structural theories on power balance, alliances and polarity (Midlarsky, 1989:xvi), the reputation and status of a nation as a justification of war (Dafoe, Renshon and Huth, 2014:390), and the impact of public opinion on decision makers (Tomz, 2007:822). One historically popular explanation to this question is that state leaders often create conflict in order to divert attention from domestic issues. This theory is called the Diversionary War theory (DWT). Its logic is that leaders facing domestic issues threatening their own position have incentives to seek foreign conflict, in order to draw attention from such domestic threats (Levy, 1989:259). Domestic problems can be defined as anything from protests and riots to armed uprisings and bad economic conditions, whereas foreign conflict would be defined as an escalation of conflict, threat of or actual use of violence. The Diversionary war theory claims that an increased international conflict affects leaders and the people of the state in several ways. When a nation faces external threat, it is presumed, the group identity (.i.e. the national belonging) becomes stronger (Levy, 1989:261); in consequence, a foreign conflict would unite the people around its leader, and finally, state leaders who are confronted with a potential loss of their domestic power are incentivized to start a foreign conflict since they have nothing left to lose. If such a conflict increases their chance of staying in office, it would be worth initiating it (Chiozza and Goemans, 2003:446). The DWT explains breakout of many conflicts in history, from the Middle Ages to modern times, from this perspective. The most famous suggested cases are historical, like the Crimean War in 1852-1856 and the Russo-Japanese War of 1904 (Blainey, 1988:73,76), but it also includes more modern conflicts like the Vietnam War (Blainey, 1988:73) and the Falkland wars. While this theory is widely recognized and utilized by many historians, anthropologists and psychologists alike during the 20th century (Blainey 1988:74), it has also been the object of criticisms for a number of political scientists who point to the lack of actual evidence, the weak links between theoretical literature and functional empirical models and ambiguous results in most cases. These critiques have identified a number of faults with the theory: although diversionary tactics do occur in a smaller group, they simply do not seem to manifest themselves at the state level (Levy, 1989:262). Having said that, studies on the use of force by the President of 4 the United States did find some evidence of a positive correlation between internal public discontent and foreign conflict. In times of economic woes, American presidents were found to be more likely to retort to foreign conflict (Ostrom & Job, 1986:548). However, this was also the case when the president had a high overall approval rate, which contradicts the idea of diversionary use of force. It turns out that leaders who face the risk of losing their office are actually less likely to engage in international conflict, regardless of regime type (Chiozza & Goeans, 2003:443). The conclusion is a simple one. Whatever one might expect to gain in popularity turns out to be not worth the risk since it is too costly. As shown by the political science literature, state officials do not use diversionary tactics as frequently as claimed by the theory. However, the DWT is not entirely fruitless since its main logic can be utilized in a different, and possibly more productive manner once we start to question the assumption that increased conflict generates more manageable circumstances (Levy 1989:281). This is the assumption that I am interested in challenging, which is I think the main reason why the DWT's findings tended to contradict with its predictions. It might be more plausible to assume that when leaders face conflict, they do not think that increased conflict would make the situation less costly. If we start with this assumption, what we consider as the rational actions of political elites in times of domestic turmoil might turn out different. One recent contribution to the field in the form of an alternative explanation
Recommended publications
  • Turkish-American Relations in the Post-Cold War Era, 1990-2005 Isa Afacan [email protected]
    Florida International University FIU Digital Commons FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations University Graduate School 3-31-2011 Turkish-American Relations in the Post-Cold War Era, 1990-2005 Isa Afacan [email protected] DOI: 10.25148/etd.FI11041509 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd Recommended Citation Afacan, Isa, "Turkish-American Relations in the Post-Cold War Era, 1990-2005" (2011). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 347. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/347 This work is brought to you for free and open access by the University Graduate School at FIU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of FIU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Miami, Florida TURKISH-AMERICAN RELATIONS IN THE POST-COLD WAR ERA, 1990-2005 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS by Isa Afacan 2011 To: Dean Kenneth Furton College of Arts and Sciences This dissertation, written by Isa Afacan, and entitled Turkish-American Relations in the post-Cold War Era, 1990-2005, having been approved in respect to style and intellectual content, is referred to you for judgment. We have read this dissertation and recommend that it be approved. _______________________________________ Thomas Breslin _______________________________________ Aisha Musa _______________________________________ Charles MacDonald _______________________________________ Mohiaddin Mesbahi, Major Professor Date of Defense: March 31, 2011 The dissertation of Isa Afacan is approved. _______________________________________ Dean Kenneth Furton College of Arts and Sciences _______________________________________ Interim Dean Kevin O’Shea University Graduate School Florida International University, 2011 ii © Copyright 2011 by Isa Afacan All rights reserved.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Thesis
    This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ Turkey’s State-Business Relations Revisited: Islamic Business Associations and Policymaking in the AKP era Ilhan, Ebru Awarding institution: King's College London The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. END USER LICENCE AGREEMENT Unless another licence is stated on the immediately following page this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the work Under the following conditions: Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Non Commercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No Derivative Works - You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. Any of these conditions can be waived if you receive permission from the author. Your fair dealings and other rights are in no way affected by the above. Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 25. Sep. 2021 This electronic theses or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ Title: Turkey’s State-Business Relations Revisited: Islamic Business Associations and Policymaking in the AKP era Author: Ebru Ilhan The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement.
    [Show full text]
  • Defining Turkey's Kurdish Question
    Defining Turkey’s Kurdish Question: Discourse in the US Congress, The European Parliament and the Turkish Grand National Assembly, 1990-99 Hamid Akın Ünver A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Government University of Essex Date of submission November 2009 Winner 2010 Malcolm H. Kerr Award for the Best Dissertation in the Field of Social Sciences This Dissertation is Nominated by the University of Essex, Department of Government for the Following ECPR Categories The 2010 Jean Blondel PhD Prize for the Best Dissertation by a Scholar in an ECPR Member Institution. The 2010 Stein Rokkan Prize for Comparative Social Science Research Defining the Kurdish Question: Discourse in the US Congress, The European Parliament and The Turkish Grand National Assembly. Chapter 1 -- Defining the Kurdish question: Setting the Scene 1. Power, function and policy asymmetries: The US Congress, the EU Parliament and the Turkish Grand National Assembly……………………………………..…7 2. On the methodology of this work………………………………………………..11 2.1 Methodology step 1: Data collection………………………………………..…...14 2.2 Methodology step 2: Data evaluation……………………………………………16 Chapter 2 – Theoretical overview: The State, the non-State and political language 1. Philosophical aspects: The consciousness of the State and of the non- State.…………………………………………………………………………...…22 1.1 The State and power in politics: Machiavelli – Hobbes – Weber …………….23 1.2 Language of the ‘non-State’ and emancipation: Locke – Rousseau – Kant....31 2. Theoretical aspects: How does the consciousness of the State and emancipation materialize in politics? Enter discourse analysis………………………………...35 2.1 Limitation of the literature on ‘psychological factors’ in foreign policy…….36 2.2 When words establish power relations: Critical discourse analysis and identity conflicts…………………………………………………………………..……...40 2.3 On the methodology of the content chapters: The relationship between speech- act and discourse…………………………………………………………………………43 3.
    [Show full text]
  • Conflict Geographies of Water Pollution in Thrace Region of Turkey
    CONFLICT GEOGRAPHIES OF WATER POLLUTION IN THRACE REGION OF TURKEY by Eda Acara A thesis submitted to the Department of Geography In conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Queen’s University Kingston, Ontario, Canada (May, 2015) Copyright ©Eda Acara, 2015 i Abstract This thesis addresses the tension between industrial development policies and environmental protection and the rising pollution levels in the City of Lüleburgaz in Thrace region, a peripheral region of Istanbul, Turkey. The environmental narratives of second- third-generation Muslim-Balkan immigrants, who began arriving in the early 20th Century, and Kurdish migrants, who arrived in Lüleburgaz in the post-1990 era, express conflict geographies of pollution across communities and between the communities and the state. Heavy pollution in the Ergene River, where the river is declared “dead,” is not a mere accident but rather a facet of neoliberal environmental governance. A politics of non-governance Conflicting narratives of Muslim-Balkan immigrants and Kurdish migrants uncover multiple layered conflict geographies of water pollution in Thrace region by grappling with the question of how “the nation” is continously reterritorialized within neoliberalized constructions of environment and river politics at the community and policy realms. Ethnic-class segregation leads to different community demands with regard to river pollution and environmental degradation in neighbourhoods characterized by different materialities of housing and occupation, a particular facet of non-governance that creates landscapes of invisibility. This analysis contributes to theories on “actually existing neoliberalism” and the ways through which the nation and its various territorial practices at different epochs of neoliberalization processes not only create consent for neoliberalization practices, but also give way for historical and racialized ethnic conflicts to survive.
    [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]
  • Grapes of Wrath
    #6.13 PERSPECTIVES Political analysis and commentary from Turkey THE TRANSFORMATION OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL AREAS IN TURKEY GRAPES OF WRATH DEMOCRACY FOREIGN POLICY HUMAN LANDSCAPES The Gezi Park Resistance Objective versus Process in Turkey’s Memet Aksoy: and the Peace Process EU Membership Bid This is What Being an Artist is: Nazan Üstündağ Erhan İçener Taking Sides Page 54 Page 62 Ayşegül Oğuz Page 66 TURKEY REPRESENTATION Contents From the editor 3 ■ Cover story: The transformation of agriculture and rural areas in Turkey The dynamics of agricultural and rural transformation in post-1980 Turkey Murat Öztürk 4 Europe’s rural policies a la carte: The right choice for Turkey? Gökhan Günaydın 11 The liberalization of Turkish agriculture and the dissolution of small peasantry Abdullah Aysu 14 Agriculture: Strategic documents and reality Ali Ekber Yıldırım 22 Land grabbing Sibel Çaşkurlu 26 A real life “Grapes of Wrath” Metin Özuğurlu 31 ■ Ecology Save the spirit of Belgrade Forest! Ünal Akkemik 35 Child poverty in Turkey: Access to education among children of seasonal workers Ayşe Gündüz Hoşgör 38 Urban contexts of the june days Şerafettin Can Atalay 42 ■ Democracy Is the Ergenekon case a step towards democracy? Orhan Gazi Ertekin 44 Participative democracy and active citizenship Ayhan Bilgen 48 Forcing the doors of perception open Melda Onur 51 The Gezi Park Resistance and the peace process Nazan Üstündağ 54 Marching like Zapatistas Sebahat Tuncel 58 ■ Foreign Policy Objective versus process: Dichotomy in Turkey’s EU membership bid Erhan İcener 62 ■ Culture Rural life in Turkish cinema: A location for innocence Ferit Karahan 64 ■ Human Landscapes from Turkey This is what being an artist is: Taking Sides Memet Aksoy 66 ■ News from HBSD 69 Heinrich Böll Stiftung - Turkey Represantation The Heinrich Böll Stiftung, associated with the German Green Party, is a legally autonomous and intellectually open political foundation.
    [Show full text]
  • Who's Who in Politics in Turkey
    WHO’S WHO IN POLITICS IN TURKEY Sarıdemir Mah. Ragıp Gümüşpala Cad. No: 10 34134 Eminönü/İstanbul Tel: (0212) 522 02 02 - Faks: (0212) 513 54 00 www.tarihvakfi.org.tr - [email protected] © Tarih Vakfı Yayınları, 2019 WHO’S WHO IN POLITICS IN TURKEY PROJECT Project Coordinators İsmet Akça, Barış Alp Özden Editors İsmet Akça, Barış Alp Özden Authors Süreyya Algül, Aslı Aydemir, Gökhan Demir, Ali Yalçın Göymen, Erhan Keleşoğlu, Canan Özbey, Baran Alp Uncu Translation Bilge Güler Proofreading in English Mark David Wyers Book Design Aşkın Yücel Seçkin Cover Design Aşkın Yücel Seçkin Printing Yıkılmazlar Basın Yayın Prom. ve Kağıt San. Tic. Ltd. Şti. Evren Mahallesi, Gülbahar Cd. 62/C, 34212 Bağcılar/İstanbull Tel: (0212) 630 64 73 Registered Publisher: 12102 Registered Printer: 11965 First Edition: İstanbul, 2019 ISBN Who’s Who in Politics in Turkey Project has been carried out with the coordination by the History Foundation and the contribution of Heinrich Böll Foundation Turkey Representation. WHO’S WHO IN POLITICS IN TURKEY —EDITORS İSMET AKÇA - BARIŞ ALP ÖZDEN AUTHORS SÜREYYA ALGÜL - ASLI AYDEMİR - GÖKHAN DEMİR ALİ YALÇIN GÖYMEN - ERHAN KELEŞOĞLU CANAN ÖZBEY - BARAN ALP UNCU TARİH VAKFI YAYINLARI Table of Contents i Foreword 1 Abdi İpekçi 3 Abdülkadir Aksu 6 Abdullah Çatlı 8 Abdullah Gül 11 Abdullah Öcalan 14 Abdüllatif Şener 16 Adnan Menderes 19 Ahmet Altan 21 Ahmet Davutoğlu 24 Ahmet Necdet Sezer 26 Ahmet Şık 28 Ahmet Taner Kışlalı 30 Ahmet Türk 32 Akın Birdal 34 Alaattin Çakıcı 36 Ali Babacan 38 Alparslan Türkeş 41 Arzu Çerkezoğlu
    [Show full text]
  • Weapons Transfers and Violations of the Laws of War in Turkey
    WEAPONS TRANSFERS AND VIOLATIONS OF THE LAWS OF WAR IN TURKEY Human Rights Watch Arms Project Human Right Watch New York AAA Washington AAA Los Angeles AAA London AAA Brussels Copyright 8 November 1995 by Human Rights Watch. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 95-81502 ISBN 1-56432-161-4 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH Human Rights Watch conducts regular, systematic investigations of human rights abuses in some seventy countries around the world. It addresses the human rights practices of governments of all political stripes, of all geopolitical alignments, and of all ethnic and religious persuasions. In internal wars it documents violations by both governments and rebel groups. Human Rights Watch defends freedom of thought and expression, due process and equal protection of the law; it documents and denounces murders, disappearances, torture, arbitrary imprisonment, exile, censorship and other abuses of internationally recognized human rights. Human Rights Watch began in 1978 with the founding of its Helsinki division. Today, it includes five divisions covering Africa, the Americas, Asia, the Middle East, as well as the signatories of the Helsinki accords. It also includes five collaborative projects on arms transfers, children's rights, free expression, prison conditions, and women's rights. It maintains offices in New York, Washington, Los Angeles, London, Brussels, Moscow, Dushanbe, Rio de Janeiro, and Hong Kong. Human Rights Watch is an independent, nongovernmental organization, supported by contributions from private individuals and foundations worldwide. It accepts no government funds, directly or indirectly. The staff includes Kenneth Roth, executive director; Cynthia Brown, program director; Holly J.
    [Show full text]
  • UNISCI Discussion Papers No 23
    ISSN 1696-2206 Nº 23 May /Mayo 2010 TURKEY/TURQUÍA (Mustafa Aydin, Coord.) UNISCI Nur Bilge Criss Parameters of Turkish Foreign Policy under the AKP Governments UNIDAD DE Gencer Özcan The Changing Role of Turkey’s Military in Foreign Policy- INVESTIGACIÓN Making Process SOBRE SEGURIDAD Y Gokhan Bacik The Rise of Identity Politics in Turkey COOPERACIÓN INTERNACIONAL Bican Şahin & Transnational Advocacy Networks in Perspective: Mete Yıldız Democratization, Human Rights and NGOs in Turkey Ahmet K. Han From “Strategic Partnership” to “Model Partnership”: AKP, RESEARCH Turkish-US Relation and the Prospects under Obama UNIT ON INTERNATIONAL Mert Bilgin Turkey’s energy strategy: What difference does it make to SECURITY AND become an energy transit corridor, hub or center? COOPERATION Sinem Akgül Cycles of Europeanization in Turkey: Açıkme şe The Domestic Impact of EU Political Conditionality Meliha Benli Turkey’s Changing Middle East Policy Altunı şık Özlem Tür Turkish-Syrian Relations – Where are we going? Mustafa Aydın Turkey´s Caucasus Policy Diba Nigar Goksel The Rubik’s Cube of Turkey - Armenia Relations Fuat Aksu Turkish-Greek Relations and the Cyprus Question: Quo Vadis? n CENTRAL ASIA / ASIA CENTRAL Licinia Simao An improbable partnership: Spanish and Kazakh efforts to bring Central Asia to the fore of European politics Disponible on -line: Available on-line: www.ucm.es/ info/unisci UNISCI Discussion Papers UNISCI Discussion Papers (ISSN 1696-2206) es una revista científica de acceso abierto, con sistema de evaluación por pares, sobre Relaciones Internacionales y Seguridad; ambas entendidas en sentido amplio y desde un enfoque multidimensional, abierto a diferentes perspectivas teóricas. La revista es publicada tres veces al año —enero, mayo y octubre— por la Unidad de Investigación sobre Seguridad y Cooperación Internacional (UNISCI) de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
    [Show full text]
  • CTC Sentinel 7:2 (2014)
    NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014 . VOL 7 . ISSUE 11 Contents A Daunting Triangle: Turkey, the Kurds, and the ISIL Threat By Buddhika ‘Jay’ Jayamaha FEATURE ARTICLE 1 A Daunting Triangle: Turkey, the Kurds, and the ISIL Threat By Buddhika ‘Jay’ Jayamaha REPORTS 5 The Battle for Kobani Comes to the Fore By Derek Henry Flood 9 Hizb Allah’s Lebanese Resistance Brigades By Chris Zambelis 12 Libya’s South: The Forgotten Frontier By Geoffrey Howard 16 The “Seventh Stage” of Terrorism in China By Sajjan M. Gohel 20 A Classical Analysis of the 2014 Israel- Hamas Conflict By Elad Popovich CTC Sentinel Staff & Contacts he rise of the Islamic State in nature of the situation, there are reasons Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has to be hopeful. created an area where Turkish and Kurdish interests overlap: This article contextualizes what some Tboth parties are thoroughly alarmed at observers refer to as the “Byzantine” ISIL’s expansion. However, delicate and nature of changing Turkish-Kurdish sensitive cooperation against ISIL has relations in the fight against ISIL. For to take place in the broader context of example, the fact that Turkey gave About the CTC Sentinel the complicated and evolving Kurdish- permission to Iraqi peshmerga troops The Combating Terrorism Center is an Turkish relationship. While Turkey to cross into Syria by way of Turkey, as independent educational and research develops its response to the ISIL threat saviors of Syrian Kurds, and that Turkey institution based in the Department of Social and the Syrian crisis, it is also managing is now training Kurdish peshmerga forces Sciences at the United States Military Academy, Kurdish relations as part of its effort to against ISIL,1 came as a surprise even West Point.
    [Show full text]
  • Yesterday Today Tomorrow 1995 - 2015
    1 YESTERDAY TODAY TOMORROW 1995 - 2015 The last 20 years of Freedom of Expression in Turkey - Report - 3 A huge ‘Thank’ to... ...and a huge Homage á... All who worked to have this report completed and published... ...to our editorial team, Elvan Öğ, Sıla Kayhan, Fezile Osum, Lara Vural; to our technical supporter Emrah Eşki, for design and illustrations, to cartoonists and Selçuk Demirel who drew our logos and standard cover illistration, uncanged since 1995, …to all criminals (!) –almost 80.000 people- who put their names under the troubled statements, regardless of contents, no matter if they disagree; just to defend freedom of expression for all; ...Socrates, to Galileo, Mansur Al-Hallaj, to Giardino Bruno, …to all journalists, journal editors, column writers, TV Voltaire, Mahatma Ghandi, to Martin Luther King, Nelson programmers, TV editors, who worked with pleasure to have Mandela ... our voice heard by the public; to all judges, prosecutors, lawyers, bailiffs, policemen and peddlers, charged or working at court ...and our dear crime-partners whom we lot during these 20 years but keep their memories in our hearts... houses, who recognized what we were trying to do, respected and supported, ...Hrant Dink, Aziz Nesin, Erdal Öz, Bülent Tanör, Demirtaş Ceyhun, Cenk Koray, Metin Özek, Uğur Cankoçak, Zihni ...and national and International organizations, our all-time Anadol, Arif Damar, Atıf Yılmaz, Şaban Dayanan, İlhan Selçuk, supporters, a.i., HRW, International PEN and its national İsmail Gülgeç, Hüseyin Baş, M. Tali Öngören, M. Ali Birand, members, Article 19, Index on Censorship, Freedom House, RSF, Ömer Kavur, Hüseyin Sağnıç, Abdülmelik Fırat, Noyan Özkan, CPJ, and our umbrella organizatin IFEX; but especially to three Süleyman Üstün, Toktamış Ateş, Yusuf Kurçenli, Mina Urgan, very special people: dear Eugene Schoulgin, dear Jonathan Onur Yurdatapan, Sacit Kayasu ..
    [Show full text]
  • Christopher Houston-Islam, Kurds and the Turkish Nation State
    Islam, Kurds and the Turkish Nation State Christopher Houston BERG Islam, Kurds and the Turkish Nation State This Page Intentionally Left Blank Islam, Kurds and the Turkish Nation State Christopher Houston Oxford • New York First published in 2001 by Berg Editorial offices: 150 Cowley Road, Oxford, OX4 1JJ, UK 838 Broadway, Third Floor, New York, NY 10003-4812, USA © Christopher Houston 2001 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the written permission of Berg. Berg is an imprint of Oxford International Publishers Ltd. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 1 85973 472 3 (Cloth) ISBN 1 85973 477 4 (Paper) Typeset by JS Typesetting, Wellingborough, Northants. Printed in the United Kingdom by Antony Rowe. Contents Acknowledgements vii Prologue ix Introduction 1 Part I 1 Global Cities, National Projects, Local Identities 7 2 Suburban Sequestration and the Making of Alternative Localities in Kuzguncuk 17 3 Civilizing Islam and Uncivil Laicism 35 4 Islamist Populism, Social Distinction and Class 49 5 Carnival and the Staging of History 65 Part II 6 Turkish Republicanism and its Islamist Interrogator 85 7 The Kurdish Problem: Assimilation as a Legislative Practice and Narrative Ideal 95 8 Profane Knowledge: Kurdish Diaspora in the Turkish City 113 Part III 9 Islamist Politics and Ethnic Cleansing 135 10 Islamist Responses to the Kurdish Problem: Statist Islamism 147 –v– Contents 11 A Plague on Both Your Houses! The Kurdish Problem According to Islamist Discourse 157 12 Allah Delights in Diversity: Kurdish Islamism on the Kurdish Question 171 13 Conclusion: Islamist Politics and the Superseding of Ethnicity 191 Epilogue 199 References 201 Index 209 – vi – Acknowledgements It is a genuine pleasure to thank so many people for their collaboration in the long process of researching and writing a book.
    [Show full text]