KOSOVO AND TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE: HOW DO POST-CONFLICT MEASURES AFFECT THE INTERGROUP RELATIONS ACROSS THE COUNTRY? by ZEQINE SHESHI Submitted to the Institute of Social Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Sabancı University September 2018 © Zeqine Sheshi 2018 All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT KOSOVO AND TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE: HOW DO POST-CONFLICT MEASURES AFFECT THE INTERGROUP RELATIONS ACROSS THE COUNTRY? Zeqine Sheshi Conflict Analysis and Resolution, M.A. Thesis, September 2018 Thesis Supervisor: Asst. Prof. Kerem Yıldırım This study is a work focused on the post-conflict situation in Kosovo, its reconciliation process and the state of the intergroup relations between its two biggest ethnic groups, the Albanian majority and Serb minority. It offers an extended literature review on ethnic conflict resolution and reconciliation paired with a strong consideration of social psychology focusing on identity and intergroup relations. By offering an interlaced view of these separate bodies of work, it seeks to bring a new perspective to observe the Kosovo case. It presents a discussion of the events that shaped Kosovo for what is it today, keeping the focus on society and perceptions. To strengthen the hold of the situation, it presents results from direct fieldwork conducted with the subjects of the discussed case. The study emphasizes the role and impact reconciliatory measures have on divided societies yet as its findings suggest, it brings into consideration that in such conditions, reconciliatory processes might be incomplete thus leading into a dysfunctional relationship between such measures and the society they are supposed to improve. This study on Kosovo emphasizes that the country has failed to conduct a properly structured reconciliation process centrally, which has closed the way to any improvement of the intergroup relations on its societal levels. Keywords: Kosovo War, Reconciliation Process, Ethnic Conflict, Intergroup Relations iv ÖZET KOSOVA VE GEÇİŞ DÖNEMİ ADALETİ: ÇATIŞMA SONRASI UZLAŞMA SÜRECİNİN GRUPLARARASI İLİŞKİLERE ETKİSİ Zeqine Sheshi Uyuşmazlık Analizi ve Çözümü, Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Eylül 2018 Tez Danışmanı: Dr. Öğr. Üyesi Kerem Yıldırım Bu çalışma, Kosova’daki çatışma sonrası durum, uzlaşma süreci ve en büyük iki etnik grup olan Arnavut çoğunluğun ve Sırp azınlığının arasındaki ilişkilerin durumu üzerine odaklanmaktadır. Bu çalışmanın amacı etnik çatışma çözümü ve uzlaşma üzerine, kimlik ve gruplar arası ilişkilere odaklanan bir sosyopsikolojik yaklaşım ile eşleştirilmiş ve genişletilmiş bir literatür taraması sunmaktır. Ayrıca ayrıştırılmış bu kurumların iç içe geçmiş bir görünümünü sunarak Kosova davasını gözlemlemek için yeni bir bakış açısı getirmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Böylece, Kosova’yı bugünkü duruma göre şekillendiren, topluma ve algılara odaklanan olayları tartışır. Bu mevcut durumun anlaşılması için insanlar ile yürütülen doğrudan saha çalışmasının sonuçlarını sunar. Çalışma, uzlaşmacı tedbirlerin bölünmüş toplumlar üzerindeki rolünü ve etkilerini vurguluyor, ancak bulguların öne sürdüğü gibi bu tür durumlarda uzlaşma süreçlerinin yetersiz olması durumunda tamamlamayabileceği ve böylelikle bu önlemler ile iyileştirilmesi gereken toplum arasında işlevsiz bir ilişkiye yol açtığını da dikkate alıyor. Kosova konusundaki bu çalışma, ülke çapında gruplararası ilişkilerin toplumsal düzeylerinde herhangi bir iyileşmeye sebep verecek olan ve aynı zamanda düzgün bir şekilde yapılandırılmış bir uzlaşma sürecini gerçekleştiremediğini vurgulamaktadır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Kosova Savaşı, Etnik Çatışma, Gruplararası İlişkiler, Uzlaşma Süreci v Dedicated to my mother and to all the strong women I know vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost I would like to express my gratitude to my thesis advisor Asst. Prof. Kerem Yıldırım whose help in conceptualization, writing and presenting this study has been vital. I would like to thank him for his readiness to help even in the short period of time he was my advisor and for the patience and never-ending will to make me improve my work. His support has not only made this thesis’ completion possible but it has also made it possible for me to earn my academic confidence back and reignited my desire to continue research in social sciences in the future. I am grateful to Asst. Prof. Oya Yeğen and Asst. Prof. Barış Gençer Baykan who helped me with their continuous feedback on what I was lacking and their understanding throughout the final stage of this process. I want to thank each for their guidance and the valuable input on my understanding on research, academia and professionalism. I am grateful to the staff of Sabanci University who has helped me greatly during the many hurdles that have come up throughout this research. Additionally, I would like to thank the previous professor with which I worked with ad couldn’t complete the process, their help was still substantial and shaped my work mindset to what it is now. My greatest thank are to the brave people of Kosovo who shared with me their painful past in the hope to find an outlet for their voice. I would like to tell all of them how greatly they inspired me and gave me hope for a better future, something which I wish to repay through this study. Thanks to Ali and my brother Keli who selflessly travelled with me through the villages of Gjakove and Peje to reach people in their places of choice and helped provide a safe medium through which I could reach the honesty of my interviewees. I would like to thank my friends Elif\ Busra for this thesis would have been left in the middle if it wasn’t for their insistence and help that I get back on the work. I would like to thank my family for their many sacrifices and selflessness through all these years, for not succumbing to peer-pressure on not letting their daughter pursue education, for teaching me women can and women will. Thanks to my parents who fought the battle for me, who imprinted on me the love for history, politics and humanities and who supported me on every day of this challenge. Most importantly I am grateful to my husband Mehmet for his undying love, support to my every step, continuous push to do better and his utmost care for me. Finally I thank God for granting me the physical and mental health to be where I am today. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT........................................................................................................................... iv ÖZET ...................................................................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................. vii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES ...................................................................................... x GLOSSARY .......................................................................................................................... xi INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 1 1. DEFINING CONFLICT AND INTERGROUP RELATIONS, AN OVERVIEW ON THE EXISTING LITERATURE............................................................................................ 6 1.1. Transitional Justice................................................................................................... 8 1.1.1. Accountability or Criminal Prosecution ........................................................... 9 1.1.2. Acknowledgment of the past .......................................................................... 13 1.2. Intergroup Reconciliation....................................................................................... 18 1.2.1. Social Identity ................................................................................................. 19 1.2.2. Empathy/Respect ............................................................................................ 23 1.2.3. Trust ................................................................................................................ 24 1.2.4. Intergroup Forgiveness ................................................................................... 26 2. METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................ 29 2.1. Scope of the Research ............................................................................................ 29 2.2. Research Design ..................................................................................................... 30 2.2.1. Type of Research & Criteria ........................................................................... 30 2.2.2. Methodology of Data Collection .................................................................... 34 2.2.3. Methodology of Case Analysis ....................................................................... 35 2.3. Limitations of the Methodology ............................................................................ 36 3. RECONCILIATION, A LONG ROAD AHEAD ......................................................... 37 3.1. Social and Political Background Of the Kosovo War and the Following Reconciliatory Measures ................................................................................................... 37 3.1.1. Post-Imperialist Nuances, Nationalism, Political Instrumentalism ................ 38 3.1.2. Political Background......................................................................................