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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