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URI [dataset] UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON FACULTY OF SOCIAL, HUMAN AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES Geography and Environment NATION, BORDERING AND IDENTITY ON THE BORDER BETWEEN TURKEY AND IRAQ by Bilal GORENTAS Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy SEPTEMBER 2016 UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON ABSTRACT FACULTY OF SOCIAL, HUMAN AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES Geography and Environment Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy NATION, BORDERING AND IDENTITY ON THE BORDER BETWEEN TURKEY AND IRAQ BILAL GORENTAS This thesis explores the impact of the border between Turkey and Iraq on Kurdish identity. Since the demarcation of the border in 1926, both Turkey and Iraq have struggled to accommodate their Kurdish citizens into their common national communities. There have been numerous bloody conflicts on both sides. As of September 2016, the Iraqi Kurdistan President repeatedly announced that it was time for Kurdistan to demand independence. He stated that ‘the time has come to redraw Middle East boundaries’. On the Turkish side of the border, a new series of bloody conflicts began at Turkey’s Iraq border after the peace talks between the Turkish state and the Kurdish Worker’s Party [or PKK] paused in July 2015. Kurds have been exposed to different nation-state building processes with different notions of inclusion and exclusion in Iraq and Turkey. Kurds in each state have had a different socio-political environment within which to construct and practice their identity. Based on original data collected during a rarely encountered peaceful period on both sides of the border, this thesis addresses three important research gaps in the literature. (1) It brings Kurds’ voices, self- understanding and self-narratives to the existing body of knowledge. The thesis explores how Kurds themselves perceive their nation and construct their identity. It shows how different socio-political environments in each state have shaped a different Kurdish identity and discusses the implications of these differences. (2) The thesis also explores how Turkish Kurds and Iraqi Kurds perceive their ruling states as well as construct their identity in relation to them. (3) It explores how Turkish Kurds and Iraqi Kurds perceive their nation and narratively construct their identity in relation to each other. The thesis examines how bordering, as a process of socio-spatial homogenisation and differentiation, works on each side of the border between Turkey and Iraq. i Table of Content ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................................... i List of figures ............................................................................................................................ v DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP .................................................................................. vii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................... ix Part 1 Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 1 1.1 Research Aim and Objectives .........................................................5 1.2 Document Outline .........................................................................6 Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................... 9 Introduction ..........................................................................................9 2.1 Nation and Nationalism ............................................................... 10 2.1.1 Defining the terms ............................................................. 10 2.1.2 The Origin of Nations and Nationalism ............................... 15 2.1.3 Types of Nationalism .......................................................... 21 2.1.4 Conclusion ......................................................................... 26 2.2 Border and Identity ...................................................................... 27 2.2.1 Studying Borders: A Theoretical Framework ........................ 27 2.2.2 Understanding Borders ....................................................... 29 2.2.3 Bordering and Identity ........................................................ 36 2.2.4 Conclusion ......................................................................... 38 2.3 Kurds and the Border ................................................................... 40 2.3.1 Before the Border: Kurds before the First World War ............ 40 2.3.2 Kurds in Iraq: The South side of the Border ......................... 41 2.3.3 Kurds in Turkey: The North Side of the Border .................... 50 2.4 Conclusion: Revisiting the Objectives ........................................... 63 Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................... 68 Introduction ........................................................................................ 68 3.1 Conceptual Framework ................................................................ 68 3.1.1 The Theoretical Assumptions.............................................. 68 i 3.1.2 Narratives and Identity ....................................................... 70 3.2 Research Design .......................................................................... 72 3.3 Data Collection and Sampling ...................................................... 73 3.3.1 Asking Identity ................................................................... 75 3.4 Data Analysis .............................................................................. 76 3.5 Limits of the Research ................................................................. 79 Part 2 THE NORTH SIDE OF THE BORDER: KURDS IN TURKEY .................................. 85 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 85 Chapter 4: The Region ................................................................................................. 85 Introduction ....................................................................................... 85 4.1 The Words ................................................................................... 88 4.2 The Past ...................................................................................... 95 4.3 The Symbols ............................................................................. 103 Conclusion ....................................................................................... 109 Chapter 5: The Rest of the State: Turkey ...................................................... 113 Introduction ..................................................................................... 113 5.1 Prejudice and Discrimination ..................................................... 113 5.2 Integration and Disintegration ................................................... 121 Conclusion ....................................................................................... 126 Chapter 6: The Other Side of the Border: Iraqi Kurds ............................ 129 Introduction ..................................................................................... 129 6.1 The ‘Denied’ Border .................................................................. 129 6.2 The Symbolic Meanings of the South ......................................... 134 6.3 The Image of the South and Interiorising the Border .................. 140 Conclusion ....................................................................................... 150 PART 3 THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE BORDER: KURDS IN IRAQ ...................................... 152 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 152 Chapter 7: The Region: Kurdistan Region of Iraq..................................... 152 ii Introduction ...................................................................................... 152 7.1 The Words ................................................................................. 153 7.2 The Past .................................................................................... 160 Conclusion ....................................................................................... 167 Chapter 8: The Rest of the State: Iraq ............................................................. 169 Introduction .....................................................................................