Ethnic identity and perceptions of the police in Turkey: the case of Kurds and Turks

Drawing on the literature on minorities’ and ethnic groups’ perceptions of the police, this article investigates the differences between Kurds and Turks in terms of their perceptions of the police in Turkey. We conducted survey research using a nationally representative sample of 1804 people. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that Kurds in Turkey have a more negative perception of the police than Turks, regardless of their gender, education, income, party affiliation, and sectarian identity. It is concluded that the historical relationship between Kurds and the Turkish state has had a decisive effect on how Kurds perceive the police

Unregulated Desires: Anomie, the “Rainbow Underclass” and Second-generation Alevi Kurdish Gangs in London

This article offers a case study of the adaptation strategies of a section of second-generation young male Alevi Kurds in London and the social conditions which make some of them more prone to join gangs and to reject mainstream institutions in their search for instant material rewards. It is instructive to use Durkheim’s analysis of society’s integrative and regulative functions and particularly his concept of anomie to understand a situation where the legitimate means in the pursuit of material wealth and comfort are out of balance with the demand, calling into question the legitimacy of the institutions which provide these functions. Those who cannot compete through existing institutions are more likely to seek alternative means to achieve these ends. Durkheim identified youth as more vulnerable to such unregulated desires and I argue that his approach offers valuable insights into the anomic pressures confronting second-generation migrant young men in particular

Working Towards a Globalized Minority: Regional German-Kurdish Cultural Organizations and Transnational Networks

German-Kurdish cultural organizations and the Kurdish Diaspora they represent offer an example of a new type of actor in defining globalization. This paper examines how such organizations act as the lynchpin in transnational networks and how such organizations give a voice to Berliner-Kurds. These relationships are explored at the national, regional, and organizational level, in order to paint a comprehensive perspective. It argues that despite experiencing discrimination, the convergence of a global diaspora and local actors has contributed to the reinvention of the German-Kurdish community as a globalized minority. Such a concept is important for understanding how migrant communities can have a dialog with the majority and be included in democratic processes

Transnationalization of human rights norms and its impact on internally displaced Kurds

This paper addresses the less researched topic of internal displacement as a human rights issue and analyzes the extent that the transnationalization of human rights issues and the pressures from regional organizations affected the rights of ethnic minorities, particularly internally displaced ethnic groups. In order to shed light on how much state sovereignty on sensitive internal matters can be challenged by regional organizations, the paper examines Turkey's efforts to join the European Community (through membership in the Council of Europe and the European Union) in light of its policies toward its internally displaced Kurdish population. Although the analysis focuses on internal displacement as an issue within this field, it also studies general human rights problems, such as minority rights, cultural rights, and representation of minorities, within the context of Turkey's Kurdish Questio

Reassembling the political: the PKK and the project of radical democracy

One of the most important secular political movements in the Middle East, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) underwent a profound transformation in the 2000s. What the PKK has experienced in this period was a comprehensive restructuration of its organization, ideology and political-military struggle, changing its course towards a project of radical democracy. In this article we explore the content of this new project, and its practical implications. Through this discussion, our study addresses a gap in Turkish and Kurdish studies. Only few studies deal explicitly with the political ideology of the PKK. The data for this article has been collected through a study of Öcalan’s defence texts and his ‘prison notes’, along with key PKK documents, such as congress reports, formal decisions and the writings of its cadre, such as Mustafa Karasu. We conclude that the project for radical democracy is based on the conception of ‘politics beyond the state, political organisation beyond the party, and political subjectivity beyond class’ and can have the opportunity to change the centralist tradition in Turkish political system as well as the statist and class reductionist political thought in the Left in Turkey

"I miss my village" forced Kurdish migrants in Istanbul and their representation in associations

Metropolises in Turkey like İstanbul, Ankara, and İzmir along with the cities in Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia received a significant number of internally displaced Kurds (hereinafter referred to as Kurdish IDPs) in the late 1980s to the 1990s. One of the impacts of this displacement in the urban areas has been the alteration in the ways in which some hometown associations functioned, and the formation of some new Kurdish associations. Changes in the nature of migration from voluntary to forced migration have largely contributed to the way some hometown associations began to restructure their agendas and their depiction of the needs of their members, in addition to the extension of their service areas to reach out to these forced migrants. However, as argued below, the way many hometown associations dealt with the problems of the Kurdish IDPs and their identity issues were limited and non-political as compared to the newly formed Kurdish associations of the 1990s, which extended their service functions to include the expression of the needs and identities specific to the “Kurdish group,” and in the case of Kurdish women's associations to “Kurdish women.”</jats:p

'Turks' in London: shades of invisibility and the shifting relevance of policy in the migration process

No description supplie