MASARYKOVA UNIVERZITA FACULTY OF SOCIAL STUDIES The Kurdish Question in Turkey During the Rule of the Justice and Development Party Bachelor's Thesis KAROLÍNA KUČEROVÁ Supervisor: Mgr. et Mgr. Vladimir Bizik Department of International Relations and European Studies International Relations Brno 2019 MUNI FSS THE KURDISH QUESTION IN TURKEY DURING THE RULE OF THE JUSTICE AND DEVELOPMENT PARTY Bibliographic Record Author: Karolína Kučerová Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University Department of International Relations and Euro­ pean Studies Title of Thesis: The Kurdish Question in Turkey During the Rule of the Justice and Development Party Degree Programme: International Relations Supervisor: Mgr. et Mgr. Vladimir Bizik Academic Year: 2019 Number of Pages: 54 Keywords: Kurds, Turks, Kurdish Question, Kurdistan, Tur­ key, AKP, PKK THE KURDISH QUESTION IN TURKEY DURING THE RULE OF THE JUSTICE AND DEVELOPMENT PARTY Abstract This thesis is focused on the Kurdish ethnic group, its position in Turkey and their chances of having their autonomy. The first part of this thesis briefly describes the historical development of this ethnicity and their effort to separate themselves from Turkey. The main aim is to describe the current situation of Kurds in Turkey and their separatist tendencies during the rule of the Justice and Development Party. After discussing the recent developments, the final part of the thesis outlines what are the likely challenges and possible paths forward for the Kurdish ethnic group in Turkey. 2 THE KURDISH QUESTION IN TURKEY DURING THE RULE OF THE JUSTICE AND DEVELOPMENT PARTY Statutory Declaration I hereby declare that I have written the submitted Bachelor's Thesis con­ cerning the topic of The Kurdish Question in Turkey During the Rule of the Justice and Development Party independently. All the sources used for the purpose of finishing this thesis have been adequately refer­ enced and are listed in the Bibliography. In Brno May 8 2019 Karolína Kučerová THE KURDISH QUESTION IN TURKEY DURING THE RULE OF THE JUSTICE AND DEVELOPMENT PARTY Acknowledgements I would like to thank Mgr. et Mgr. Vladimir Bizik for being my advisor and academic supervisor across my journey of writing this thesis. And I would also like to thank my family for being my support during the whole time of my studies. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS 7 Table of Contents List of Images 9 1 Introduction 11 2 Methodology 12 3 Explanation of basic terms 13 3.1 Kurdistan 13 3.2 Kurdish question 14 3.3 Kurdish separatist movements 16 4 Origin of the question 19 4.1 Ethnic history of Kurds 19 4.2 Ethnic history of Turks 21 4.3 History of the question 22 5 Turkish-Kurdish conflict - recent historical background 25 5.1 War: August 1984 - March 1993 25 5.2 War: May 1993-August 1999 26 5.3 Ceasefire: September 1999 - November 2002 29 6 Turkish-Kurdish conflict during the rule of the AKP 31 6.1 Ceasefire: November 2002 - June 2004 31 6.2 War: June 2004-March 2013 32 6.3 Ceasefire: March 2013 - July 2015 36 6.4 War: July 2015-June 2018 38 7 Perspectives 41 8 Conclusion 43 Bibliography 45 Primary sources 45 7 8 TABLE OF CONTENTS Secondary sources 45 Webpages and internet sources 48 8 LIST OF IMAGES 9 List of Images Figure 1: Map of Kurdistan 13 9 INTRODUCTION 11 1 Introduction The Kurdish ethnic group is the biggest minority in Turkey. But they had to face Turkish governmental oppression in the process of Turkification, for example, the Kurdish language was banned from being spoken in public and even in private conversations. And even if the Turkish state later started to make certain steps to lower the pressure on Kurds, such as allowing to speak the Kurdish language publicly, they are still not find• ing a common ground. A semi-open conflict has been going on between Kurds and Turks since 1984. But the roots of their conflict are deeper, starting at the end of the First World War. The conflict escalated in 1984 not only because of the Turkish oppression of the human rights of Kurds, but also because of the fact that the Turkish state is refusing the Kurdish national self-de• termination right This thesis provides an overview of the Kurdish-Turkish relations since 1984 with focus on the time of the rule of the "Justice and Develop• ment Party" (AKP). This paper is aimed at the Kurdish question, because it is a big topic lasting for decades, yet with no one being able to solve it. Not even the Kurdish separatist movements that are described in the third chapter. This thesis is also aimed at outlining the chances of gaining autonomy for Kurds. The third chapter aims to introduce the basic terms and concepts, such as Kurdistan and the Kurdish question. They are frequently used in this bachelor thesis, but sometimes they have different interpretations. It is therefore better to explain them for the purposes of this thesis. The fourth chapter describes the ethnic history of Kurds and Turks, because it is important for the further development of their relations. The beginning of the Kurdish question, that is connected with the end of the First World War, is also described. In the fifth anf sixth chapter, which is divided into war and ceasefire periods, it is described how the Kurdish-Turkish conflict developed in the last century and during the time of the rule of the AKP. The ideologi• cal shift of the Kurdish separatist movement PKK is discussed in this chapter as well. Possibilities and perspectives of creating an autonomous territory of Kurdistan are outlined in the chapter number seven. The whole thesis is summarized in the last chapter, conclusion. 11 12 METHODOLOGY 2 Methodology This thesis is a literature summary and an interpretation of the topic of the Kurdish question. The method used for this thesis is the qualitative case study method. This inductive approach was chosen because it al• lows generating context-specific knowledge about the chosen topic. Moreover, this method made it possible to study the topic more deeply, more than it would be possible if the approach of dealing with more cases was chosen. (Gerring 2007,20) In the case of this thesis, where the ques• tion of possibility of establishing autonomous Kurdish territory within the Turkish state is being researched, the method is more than adequate. Regarding the causality, this research is based on the logic of under• standing. Meaning that the circumstances in Turkey regarding the Kurd• ish question were observed, and based on the observation the conclusion was made. (Osicka 2015, 332) However, the conclusion cannot be gener• alised and used in the neighbouring countries of Turkey, where Kurds also live. Thus the On the other hand, it is a disadvantage of this approach is that it is difficult to generalize from a single case. Hence, the fact that this thesis focused solely on Turkey is one of the limitations of the study of the Kurd• ish question. However, this thesis is focused on Turkey only, because in Turkey there live the majority of Kurds and the Kurdish question is more relevant than in other countries. Another limitation of this thesis is the fact that many relevant sources are in the Kurdish or Turkish language only and the author does not speak any of them. Another limitation is that there was no field research done. There are different variables that are studied in this thesis. One of them are Kurds. They are described in a separate chapter, as are Turks, or the Turkish government The third variable is the Kurdish question, that entails both of the aforementioned variables and which is described in a separate chapter as well as the origin of this question. The time frame used for this thesis is from the establishment of the "Justice and Development Party" (AKP) in 2001 until the Turkish presi• dential election in June 2 018. This time period is relevant for the Kurdish question, because during this time there were a lot of events that were changing the Kurdish-Turkish relations. 12 EXPLANATION OF BASIC TERMS 13 3 Explanation of basic terms The aim of this chapter is to introduce a basic terms and concepts that are frequently used in this bachelor thesis, especially those with different interpretations. Unless stated otherwise, these terms will be used in this thesis as defined in this chapter. 3.1 Kurdistan Figure 1: Map of Kurdistan1 Kurdistan (the land of Kurds) is a geopolitical name for an area histori• cally inhabited mainly by the Kurdish ethnic group. The area of what we call Kurdistan today has been more or less the same for centuries. As it was written: 1 (Review 2 015] 13 14 EXPLANATION OF BASIC TERMS "Kurds are an Asian nation, situated in the west of Iran and the highlands around the Tigris and the Euphrates. Kurdistan continues from the Loristan region in Iran until Kharpoot (a current city in Turkey called Elazig), which is a point where both branches of the Euphrates connect. This is about 900Km long from north-west to south-west and 100km to 200km wide on the parallel lines 34 to 39 longitude and the parallel lines 37 to 46 latitude in the east. The main valleys of Kurdistan are the valley of the Bitlis river, both valleys ofAdham and Sherwan, and the highlands ofZagra. The lake of Wan and its citadel is the capital of this Asian and brave fighting nation." (Saeed2014, 79) This area lies within the borders of four states - Iraq (Southern Kurdi• stan), Iran (Eastern Kurdistan), Syria (Western Kurdistan, sometimes also referred as Rojava) and Turkey (Northern Kurdistan).