TURKEY’S RELATIONS WITH THE IRAQI AND SYRIAN KURDS: A COMPARATIVE APPROACH IŞIN ALYÜZ IŞIK UNIVERSITY 2018 TURKEY’S RELATIONS WITH THE IRAQI AND SYRIAN KURDS: A COMPARATIVE APPROACH IŞIN ALYÜZ B.A., Department of International Relations, Işık University, 2012 Submitted to the Graduate School of Social Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in International Relations IŞIK UNIVERSITY 2018 TURKEY’S RELATIONS WITH THE IRAQI AND SYRIAN KURDS: A COMPARATIVE APPROACH Abstract This thesis examines the striking variance in Turkish foreign policy towards the Iraqi and Syrian Kurds between 2011 and 2017, during the Syrian civil war. It explains the difference in Turkish foreign policy by focusing on the impact of socially constructed identities on actor behavior with the guidance of Lene Hansen’s discursive research model. This thesis argues that constructed identities, as the foundation and product of foreign policy, have a major role in shaping the difference in the incumbent Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) foreign policy practices towards the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Democratic Union Party (PYD), as well as its armed wing People’s Protection Units (YPG). Although both the KRG and the PYD/YPG are pro-Kurdish political formations, the AKP government pursued an alliance with the former from 2007 onwards, while it identified the latter as a national security threat. This thesis uses discourse analysis to inspect the tripartite relationship of these actors from the perspective of identity theory. Key Words: Identity, Foreign Policy, Turkey, Middle East, Kurdistan Regional Government, Democratic Union Party i TÜRKİYE’NİN IRAK VE SURİYE KÜRTLERİ İLE İLİŞKİLERİ: KARŞILAŞTIRMALI BİR YAKLAŞIM Özet Bu tez Suriye iç savaşı süresince, 2011 ve 2017 yılları arasında, Türk dış politikasında Irak ve Suriye Kürtlerine yönelik dikkat çekici farkı ele almaktadır. Tez, Türk dış politikasındaki bu farkı Lene Hansen’in söylemsel araştırma modeli rehberliğinde, sosyal olarak inşa edilen kimliklerin aktör davranışları üzerindeki etkisine odaklanarak açıklamaktadır. Tez, dış politikanın temeli ve sonucu olan, inşa edilmiş bu kimliklerin, iktidarda olan Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi’nin (AKP) Irak Kürt Bölgesel Yönetimi (KRG) ve Demokratik Birlik Partisi’nin (PYD) yanı sıra, bu oluşumun askeri kanadı olan Halkın Savunma Birlikleri’ne (YPG) yönelik dış politika pratiklerini şekillendirmede büyük bir rolünün olduğunu tartışmaktadır. Hem KRG, hem de PYD/YPG’nin Kürt yanlısı siyasal oluşumlar olmasına rağmen AKP hükümeti, KRG ile 2007 yılından bu yana bir ittifak ilişkisi içerisindeyken, PYD/YPG’yi bir milli güvenlik tehdidi olarak tanımlamaktadır. Tez, bu aktörler arasındaki üçlü ilişkiyi söylem analizi kullanarak kimlik kuramı perspektifinden incelemektedir. Anahtar Sözcükler: Kimlik, Dış Politika, Türkiye, Orta Doğu, Irak Kürt Bölgesel Yönetimi, Demokratik Birlik Partisi ii Acknowledgements There are great numbers of people whom I owe appreciation. First, I owe many thanks to my respectful instructor through Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, and my thesis supervisor Assoc. Prof. Özlem Kayhan Pusane, who guided me with indescribable amount of support, generosity, time and patience. For many years, I benefited from her knowledge and will to teach. This thesis would be impossible for me to complete without her intellectual guidance and ceaseless support. Additionally, I am thankful to Assoc. Prof. Ödül Celep for his contribution to my education for years with his knowledge and experience and for his attendance in my thesis committee; likewise I am thankful to Assoc. Prof. Aslı Ilgıt, who was also in my thesis committee, for her valuable advice and comments. In addition, I owe many thanks to my parents as well as every member of my family, who patiently supported me both materially and spiritually in my all life, including my Master’s degree. Lastly, I am thankful to all my great friends who also supported me, and were here for me whenever I needed. iii List of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... i Özet ......................................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................... iii List of Contents ..................................................................................................................................... iv List of Tables ......................................................................................................................................... vi List of Abbreviations ........................................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER 1 .......................................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction and Research Design....................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Research Question and Theoretical Overview ........................................................................ 1 1.2 Literature Review .................................................................................................................... 5 1.2.1 Identity and Foreign Policy .................................................................................................... 5 1.2.2 Turkish Identity and Foreign Policy towards the Kurds in Iraq and Syria ........................... 10 1.3 Methodology ......................................................................................................................... 17 1.4 Organization of the Chapters ................................................................................................. 24 CHAPTER 2 ........................................................................................................................................ 25 Identity Construction and Foreign Policy towards The Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government ... 25 2.1 Brief history of the KRG – Turkey relations ............................................................................... 25 2.2 Analysis of the Relationship between the KRG and Turkey since 2011 ..................................... 31 2.3 Key Events and Potential Challenges for the Alliance ................................................................ 40 CHAPTER 3 ........................................................................................................................................ 44 Identity Construction and Turkish Foreign Policy towards the Democratic Union Party and People’s Protection Units in Syria...................................................................................................... 44 3.1 Brief history of the PYD/YPG .................................................................................................... 44 3.2 Overview of the Syrian Civil War ............................................................................................... 45 3.3 Analysis of the relationship between the PYD/YPG and Turkey since 2011 ............................. 48 3.4 Key Events .................................................................................................................................. 53 CHAPTER 4 ........................................................................................................................................ 59 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................ 59 4.1 Summary of the Findings ............................................................................................................ 59 4.2 Directions for Further Research .................................................................................................. 64 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................................ 66 iv v List of Tables Table 1 AKP’s Identity Construction of Turkey and Foreign Policy Discourse…………. 33 Table 2 AKP’s Foreign Policy Discourse towards the KRG…………………………….. 39 Table 3 AKP’s Foreign Policy Discourse towards the PYD/YPG......................................52 Table 4 Comparison of the AKP’s Foreign Policy Discourse towards the KRG and the PYD/YPG………………………………………………………………………………… 62 Table 5 Macro–Analytic Comparison of the KRG and PYD/YPG.................................... 63 vi List of Abbreviations AKP : Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi) CHP : Republican People’s Party (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi) EU : European Union FSA : Free Syrian Army (al-Jaysh as-Sūrī al-Ḥurr) TBMM : Grand National Assembly of Turkey (Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi) ISIS : Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ed-Devlet'ül İslâmiyye fi'l Irak ve'ş Şam) KCK : Kurdistan Communities Union (Koma Civakên Kurdistan) KDP : Kurdistan Democratic Party (Partîya Demokrata Kurdistan a Irak) KNC : Kurdish National Congress (Encûmena Niştimanî ya Kurdî li Sûriyê) KRG : Kurdistan Regional Government (Hikûmetî Herêmî Kurdistanê) MHP : Nationalist Action Party (Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi) NATO : North Atlantic Treaty Organization PÇDK : Kurdistan Democratic Solution