Download - PLS 405: Ethnicity, Nationalism, and Democracy END The Kurdish Conflict in the Republic of Turkey
PLS 405: Ethnicity, Nationalism, and DemocracyPLS 405: Ethnicity, Nationalism, and Democracy
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The Kurdish Conflict in the Republic of Turkey
Location of Turkey
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Turkey: Geography
• Transcontinental State– Europe (Thrace)– Asia (Anatolia)
• Size:– 71 million
• Land Use:– Arable Land: 30%– Permanent Crops: 3.4%
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Turkey: Population
• Size:– 71 million (17/222)
• Age Structure:– 0 – 14: 25%– 15 – 65: 68%– 66+: 7%
• Population Growth:– Total growth rate: 1.04%– Fertility Rate: 1.89– IMR: 38.33/1000
• Life Expectancy:– 72.88 (103/222)
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United States: Population
• Size:– 301 million (3/222)
• Age Structure:– 0 – 14: 20%– 15 – 65: 67%– 66+: 13%
• Population Growth:– Total growth rate: 0.89%– Fertility Rate: 2.09– IMR: 6.37/1000
• Life Expectancy:– 78.00 (45/222)
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Turkey: Population
• Ethnicity:– Turkish (?) 80%– Kurdish (?) 20%
• Language:– Turkish
• Religion:– Muslim 99.0%
• Sunni 74.5%• Shi’a Alevi 19.8%
• Urban/Rural Split:– Urban 66.7%– Rural 33.3%
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Turkey: Government
• Government:– Parliamentary democracy– Proportional representation
• Justice and Development Party– AKP 46.7% 341
-23• Republican People’s Party
– CHP 20.9% 112-66
• Nationalist Movement Party– MHP 14.3% 71
+71
• Leaders:– President Abdullah Gül– Prime Minister Recep Erdoğan– Speaker of Meclis Köksal Toptan
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The Kurds: Quick Facts
• Approximately half of all Kurds live in Turkey making up around 20% percent of the Turkish population, they number between 12 to 15 million
• The majority of Kurds reside in the southeastern corner of the country
• The government of Turkey spends $6 billion a year fighting its Kurdish separatists
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A Map of Kurdistan
Kurdish Populations
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The Kurds: Religions
• Islam– Sunni– Sufi– Shi’a
• Christianity• Judaism
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The Kurds: Society
• Language– Indo-European– Indo-Iranian– Iranian– Western Iranian– Northwestern Iranian
• Traditional Garb• Music• Tribal Structure
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The Kurds: Ancient History
• Hurrain Empire– 3000 BCE – 600 BCE
• Median Empire– 6th century BCE
• Achaemenid Empire– 6th century BCE – 3rd century BCE
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The Kurds: Classical History
• Greek Empire– 3rd century BCE – 1st century BCE
• Roman Empire– 1st century BCE – 641 CE
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The Kurds: Medieval History
• Arab Rule– 641 CE – 12th century CE– Rashidun Empire (632 - 661)– Umayyad Empire (661 - 750)– Abbasid Empire (750 - 1258)– Fatimid Empire (910 - 1171)
• Seljuk Turks– 11th century – 14th century CE
• Ayyubid Dynasty– 1169 – 13th century CE
• Principalities– 13th century – 1514 CE
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The Kurds: Modern History
• Ottoman Empire– 1514 – 1922
• Republic of Turkey– 1914 – present
• Iran– 1921 – 1941, 1941 – present
• Republic of Iraq– 1919 – 1932– 1932 - present
• Syrian Arab Republic– 1946 – present
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Relevant Turkish Treaties
• Treaty of Paris (1919)– Ended World War I
• National Self-Determination
• Treaty of Sèvres (1920)– Dissolved the Ottoman Empire– Created:
• Wilsonian Armenia• Kingdom of Herjaz• Iraq (British Mandate)• Lebanon (French Mandate)• Palestine (British Mandate)• Syria (French Mandate)
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Relevant Turkish Treaties
• Treaty of Ankara (1921)– Dropped French claims on Turkey– Dropped Turkish claims on Syria
• Treaty of Lausanne (1923)– Replaced the Treaty of Sèvres– Settled Anatolian issues– Settled borders of Turkey– Turkey was successor state to the
Ottoman Empire
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Kurdish Rebellions
• Koçkiri Rebellion (1920)• Sheikh Said Piran’s
Rebellion (1925 )• Shaikh Abdurrahman’s
Rebellion (1927)• The Agri (Ararat) Rebellion(1927-
1930)• The Dersim Rebellions (1937)
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Turkish Suppression
• Recognition– No official recognize of any
minority ethnic groups– Kurds called “Mountain Turks”
• Turkification – Forced assimilation– Suppression of Kurds
• Suppression– Kurdish language – Kurdish culture
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The Separatist Group
• The Kurdistan Workers Party– Kürdistan İşçi Partisi (KIP)– Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan (PKK)
• Created:– 1974
• Leader:– Abdullah Öcalan, captured
• Goal:– Independent Marxist Kurdish state in
present-day Kurdistan
• Strength:– Regular fighters are estimated at
15,000 in and around Turkey
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The Separatist Group
• Killings– Total 37,000– Civilians 32,000– Military personnel 5,000
• Annual Budget– Expenditures 86 million USD– Sources:
• Human Trafficking• Drug Trafficking• Donations• Extortion• Ransom
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PKK Timeline
• Formed: 1974• Major fighting began: 1984• Violence increased: 1990• 1991
– Marxist state no longer goal
• February 1999– Abdullah Öcalan captured
• January 2004– US declares it a terrorist group
• September 2006– Another unilateral ceasefire
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Turkey’s Political Response
• External Pressure– EU– UN
• Post-9/11 and US relations– Turkey steamrolled by US– US support of anti-terrorism
• July 2003 Reforms:– Adoption of “Reintegration Law”– Amended the Census Law– Reforms allowing the use of non-
Turkish languages– Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law
revoked
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And Now
• Currently an estimated 1 to 3 millions IDPs
• Tens of thousands killed• Hundreds of villages destroyed• Human rights violations• Terrorism by PKK
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Conceivable Solutions
• Kurdish integration approach• Total secession approach
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