Do Kurds Constitute a Nation?

This paper is an analytical and theoretical study of Kurdish nationalism. In this study, I looked to find justification or rejection for long held Kurdish desire of independence by simply observing its nation formation process. With the argument of Anthony D smith about the dimensions for an ethnie (nation), I scrutinized the Kurdish attempts and efforts steered toward its nation building. I also explored the roots of Kurdish nationalism, which fall into two categories of essentialists and constructionists. As a result of this study, I argue that Kurdish nation has been built on the previous traits of pre-modern Kurdish nation. By applying the concept of Anthony D. Smith about the formation of nations, I argue that Kurdish nationalists have managed to promote the idea of Kurdish nationalism despite the savage campaigns of Kurdish suppression by the newly formed national states of Middle East. Keywords: Essentialism, Constructivism, Nationalism, Nation Formation, Culture, and Histor

The Kurdish protest movement and the Islamic republic of Iran: the securitisation of Kurdish nationalism

The Islamic Republic of Iran has proven to be intolerable of any domestic dissent and opposition and the country’s whole population has suffered from the regime’s authoritarian rule. However, people of the peripheral regions of the country have been disproportionally impacted by such authoritarianism. The Iranian government has an inherent fear of a multi-ethnic society and peripheral nationalism, embodied in the movements and activities of the country’s Kurds, Azeris, Arabs, Baluchis and Turkmen. This paper examines the Kurdish-state conflict in Iran, and argues that Kurdish nationalism, due to its demands for democratisation and decentralisation, and its resistance to the Islamic Republic’s value system, has been regarded by the regime and the ruling elite of the Persian majority as a major threat to Iran’s national cohesion and territorial integrity. While Kurdish nationalism has mobilised its forces to protest and resist assimilation and exclusion, the Iranian government’s reaction is motivated by fear and anxiety toward Kurdish independence and secession. Consequently, Kurdish nationalism has been massively securitised, and the Kurds suffer immensely from a wide range of coersive measures aimed at defusing this nationalism

Programowa niechęć do państwa jako kwintesencja zjawiska identyfikacji narodowej wśród Kurdów tureckich – analiza głównych przejawów nacjonalizmu kurdyjskiego w Turcji

The aim of this article is to present a comprehensive analysis of the phenomenon of Kurdish nationalism and identity in Turkey. An emphasis will be placed on aspects such as the lack of acceptance of Kurdish nationalists for state-oriented attitudes among some Kurds, the lack of acceptance for the Turkish government’s pro-Kurdish decisions and abusing of tragic Turks and Kurds’ past by both sides of the conflict in order to win the propaganda war. The groundless conviction that “Kurdish nationalism” and “ PKK terrorism” is the same thing leads to misunderstanding that terror is the only indication of show ing Kurdish identity. The true complexity of this phenomenon will be presented in this article

Defining the Nation: Kurdish Historiography in Turkey in the 1990s

This article examines Kurdish historiography in Turkey in the 1990s. It centres on the question how the national community is historicised via central myths, especially for the pre-Islamic periods. As a source basis writings of members of the intellectual elite which are published in newspapers are used. This article argues that identity in the Kurdish society is currently mainly constructed around an ethnic history, which assumes Kurdishness to be constant and which is based on a dichotomy between barbarism and civilisation. The discursive space for this historiography is mainly determined by Turkish national discourse in its popular version. Finally, a comparative outlook with the Iraqi case is suggested

Reactive Nationalism in a Homogenizing State: The Kurdish Nationalism Movement in Ba’thist Iraq, 1963 – 2003

Reactive Nationalism in a Homogenizing State: The Kurdish Nationalism Movement in Ba’thist Iraq, 1963 - 2003. The thesis analyzes the Kurdish nationalism movement as a reaction to the homogenization process by successive Iraqi governments since the establishment of the current state of Iraq. The case study for the thesis is Kurdish reactive nationalism and the Ba’th party from 1963 - 2003. The Ba'th Party came to power in 1963 then again in 1968 through two co-de-ta until their fall in 2003. The Ba'th Party tried to homogenize the state of Iraq and impose a Sunni-Arab identity to Iraq through centralized education and administration system. The Sunni Arabs are a minority group within the boundary of Iraq but had been the dominant group since 1921 until 2003. The Kurds refused such identity and demanded for their national rights to be recognized. The Ba’th Party excluded the Kurds from holding senior or sensitive posts within education, administration and military posts. Having the control over the judicial system, the Ba’th Party labelled the Kurds as traitors, which legitimize their extermination. Subsequently, they were subjected to genocide under the hands of the Ba’th party. Despite all this, the Kurds continued in their struggle for their national rights. With every step by the Ba'th party to exterminate them the Kurds reacted by organizing themselves and adapted themselves to the new situation. They also seized every opportunity that had arisen to enhance their position. The Kurdish nationalism blossomed after the 1991 uprising following the second gulf war in March 1991. The Kurds managed to run a general election for Kurdistan Parliament; established the Kurdistan Regional Government; improved the education and administration system; improved schools, universities, art and economy. The fall of Saddam on 9th April 2003 was another golden opportunity that the Kurds seized pretty well. They contributed in writing Iraq’s constitution and managed to achieve most of their national demands within the federal state of Iraq. Hence, Kurdish nationalism has blossomed

The dilemma of Kurdish nationalism as a result of international treaties and foreign occupations between the years 1850 to 1930

This thesis is discussing the failing Kurdish nationalism between the year 1850 and 1930. The researcher discusses various difficulties faced by the Kurdish nationalism, particularly due to the fact that Kurdistan was occupied by the Ottoman and Persian empires, followed by the arrivals of the British Empire, France and Russians (major allied powers) in the Middle East generally, and Kurdistan particularly. These powers took a great part of Kurdistan and attached them to Turkey, Iraq and Iran. These steps were made by the treaty of Lausanne of 1923, although in the Treaty of Sevres of 1920, the right to establish an independent Kurdish state was recognized for the first time. However, due to the scattered nature of Kurdish nationalism in one hand, and the influence of the major allied powers in the region, the Kurds could not establish an independent nation-state for themselves. Interestingly, the Kurds proved their origin in the region with their distinctive culture, language and geography, but in terms of their nationalist identity, it is imperative to ask whether Kurdish nationalism was able to become a cohesive definition to introduce the Kurds within the frame of an independent state. If not, what went wrong to Kurdish nationalism? The main objective of the thesis is to show the reader that political goal of Kurdish nationalism is lost, and could not unite all the Kurds, but always depended on the foreign powers to make it live and stand, while these powers let them down. Thus, the Kurds need to rely on itself. The researcher argues that Kurdish nationalism could not become a united political philosophy that could attract the major allied powers towards the Kurds, and to make them honor their promises to the Kurdish independent state. In spite of the fact the Kurds had a deep-rooted culture in the region different from the Turks, Persians and Arabs, but in terms of awareness and education, the Kurds were to certain degree were illiterate in general. In other words, only few numbers of individuals were educated who could not have a broad influence on the Kurds. There are four chapters in this thesis, in which the t Chapter One is dedicated for the literature review defining the terms ‘nation’ and ‘nationalism’ in order to serve identifying the Kurds as a nation. Chapter Two, discusses about the relevant international treaties to the Kurds and Kurdistan. Chapter Three addresses Kurdish nation as a nation and how the elements of nationhood apply to the Kurds. Chapter Four is another important chapter of the thesis, which addresses Kurdish cause. It categorizes Kurdish nationalism into three stages, they are: firstly, Kurdish nationalism during the era of Kurdish dynasties. Secondly, during the era of Kurdish revolutions starting from the revolution of Sheikh Ubeydullah Nehri in 1880 until 1908. The third one starts from 1908 until 1930s. The last chapter will be the concluding chapter

Kurdish Nationalism and Identity in Turkey: A Conceptual Reinterpretation

This article argues that the evolution of Kurdish nationalism in Turkey is more ambivalent and nuanced than is usually acknowledged. This claim is based on three interpretive approaches: 1) the primary actors in national politics are conceptualized as organizations, rather than as ethnic groups; 2) a boundary-making approach to ethnic identities is more promising than an insistence on an ethnic versus civic nationalism dichotomy; and 3) state-society relations are better understood in terms of a series of interactions among state actors and social actors than in terms of a global dichotomy of state and society. These three approaches may help develop answers to important questions regarding political identity in Turkey. First, why do so many Kurdish-speaking citizens fail to articulate their identity in the terms demanded by the Kurdish nationalist movement? Second, why are the electoral returns in those areas of Turkey with large numbers of Kurdish speakers not more closely correlated with the ethnic distribution of the population? Finally, why does the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) often act in ways that are inconsistent with its declared goals of defending and expanding the political and civil rights of the Kurds

Maps into nations: Kurdistan, Kurdish Nationalism and international society

This thesis explores how Kurdish nationalists generate sympathy and support for their ethnically-defined claims to territory and self-determination in international society and among would-be nationals. It combines conceptual and theoretical insights from the field of IR and studies on nationalism, and focuses on national identity, sub-state groups and international norms. In so doing, this thesis presents a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between the self-determination claims of sub-state nationalist groups and their interaction with international society. Such assertions for the control of a specific territory typically embrace, either implicitly or explicitly, ethnic conceptions of national identity. A three-fold argument is proposed and developed to explain why these ethnic claims to self-determination gain sympathy and support. Firstly, political assertions regarding the identity of a specific piece of land and its cartographical depictions are powerful in influencing outsiders’ perceptions because of the normative context in which they are framed. The norms related to sub-state nationalist groups involve both a specific interpretation of self-determination and the norms of human rights and democracy. Secondly, such claims are further reinforced by the perception that the history of a territory is identical to the history of the people living on it. Although a political association between a people and a territory is a relatively novel link, such associations are often assumed and accepted to exist throughout all of history. Kurdish nationalists use the maps of Kurdistan effectively to convey the message. Finally, the diasporal activities of nationalists who, thanks to their location outside the homeland and their ability to communicate their ideas directly to international society, play an important role in asserting the rightfulness of their demand for self-determination and in promoting the idea of an ethnic territory

The 2017 independence referendum and the political economy of Kurdish nationalism in Iraq

In September 2017, the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq held a referendum for independence despite the high likelihood of heavy retaliation. In contrast to the narrative that presents that decision as the result of gross miscalculation, this article offers an alternative explanation highlighting the role played by Kurdish nationalism in upholding the structures of power of the region. The current class structure, institutional framework and rentier economy of Iraqi Kurdistan had their origins in the 1990s when Kurdish forces gained permanent control of the region. The new ruling class that developed in that decade had a profoundly extractive character and based its power on a strategy of appropriation of the public resources pursued through the control of the political institutions and security forces. The 2017 independence referendum must be understood as an attempt to thwart the threat to this social arrangement represented by a wave of popular protests. These events reveal the profound connection between Kurdish nationalism and the region’s class structure. They also allow us to appreciate the–often neglected–political agency of the subaltern classes in a rentier society

The Kurdish question

This chapter traces the origins of the Kurdish question back to its roots in the Ottoman Empire. It examines how the Kurdish question emerged, how to characterise the nature of the confrontation and the basis of different perspectives on the issue, how it evolved under the Turkish republic up until the present day, and the future prospects for the Kurdish question in Turkey. It makes two modest but important points: (1) the Kurdish question needs to be placed in its historical context for any adequate understanding; and, (2) at its core is a political contestation whose form and shape is defined by the political response of the state as well as its own internal political dynamics