Abstract
The “Kurdish Question” represents a complex international problem, which demonstrates consecutive failures of conflict resolution strategies both at the level of nation-state and international organizations. The chapter analyzes the EU and Turkish perspectives on the Kurdish peace process from the early rise of the “Kurdish Question” on the international agenda up to the 2010s. The chapter argues that the increasing involvement of the international organizations in the search for peaceful and compromising solution for the problems of the Kurds led to the crucial transformation of the “Kurdish question”. It resulted in the emergence of new channels for legal actions of the Kurdish political movement on both international and domestic levels and in the rise of such phenomenon as foreign policy of the Kurdish movement.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Akkoyunlu, K. (2014, May 16). Opinion: Soma Disaster Threatens Turkey’s Fragile Social Contract. CNN. Retrieved from: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/16/opinion/turkey-social-contract/.
Aras, B., & Polat, R. K. (2008). From Conflict to Cooperation: Desecuritization of Turkey’s Relations with Syria and Iran. Security Dialogue, 39(5), 495–515.
Aziz, M. (2010). The Kurds of Iraq: Ethnonationalism and National Identity in Iraqi Kurdistan. London: Tauris Academic Studies.
Bajalan, D. R., & Karimi, S. Z. (2014). The Kurds and Their History: New Perspectives. Iranian Studies, 47(5), 679–681.
Balci, A. (2015). The Kurdish Movement’s EU Policy in Turkey: An Analysis of a Dissident Ethnic Bloc’s Foreign Policy. Ethnicities, 15(1), 72–91.
BBC. (2009, December 11). Turkish Top Court Bans Pro-Kurdish Party. BBC News. Retrieved from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8408903.stm.
BBC. (2011, November 23). Turkey PM Erdogan Apologises for 1930s Kurdish Killings. BBC News. Retrieved from: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-15857429.
BİA Haber. (2011, October 6). 30 Ayda KCK’den 7748 Gözaltı, 3895 Tutuklama [Within the Past 30 Months 7748 People from the KCK Taken into Custody and 3895 Arrested]. BİA Haber Merkezi. Retrieved from: https://bianet.org/bianet/siyaset/133216-30-ayda-kck-den-7748-gozalti-3895-tutuklama.
Birgün. (2016, June 2). Binali Yıldırım’dan Erdoğan Açıklaması: Anayasa ne Söylerse Söylesin [Binali Yıldırım’s Statement on Erdoğan: Whatever the Constitution Says]. Birgün. Retrieved from: http://www.birgun.net/haber-detay/binali-yildirim-dan-erdogan-aciklamasi-anayasa-ne-soylerse-soylesin-114399.html.
Bozarslan, H. (2008). Kurds and the Turkish State. In R. Kasaba (Ed.). Cambridge History of Turkey. Turkey in the Modern World (Vol. 4, pp. 333–356). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bruinessen, M. (1992). Agha, Shaikh, and State: the Social and Political Structures of Kurdistan. London: Zed Books.
Bruinessen, M. (2000). Kurdish Ethno-Nationalism Versus Nation-Building States: Collected Articles. Istanbul: Isis Press.
Çandar, C. (2011). Dağdan İniş—PKK Nasıl Silah Bırakır? Kürt Sorunu’nun Şiddetten Arındırılması [Leaving the Mountain—How May the PKK Lay Down Arms? Freeing the Kurdish Question from Violence]. İstanbul: TESEV Yayınları. Retrieved from: http://tesev.org.tr/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Dagdan_Inis_PKK_Nasil_Silah_Birakir.pdf.
Çandar, C. (2016, April 15). EU Report Ruffles Turkey’s Feathers. Al Monitor. Retrieved from: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/04/turkey-european-union-progress-report.html.
Casier, M. (2010). Designated Terrorists: the Kurdistan Worker’s Party and Its Struggle to (Re)Gain Political Legitimacy. Mediterranean Politics, 15(3), 393–413.
Cihan. (2015, October 26). Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi Genel Başkan Yardımcısı Selin Sayek Böke, “Kürt sorunu bir demokrasi sorunudur” [Vice Chairman of the Republican People’s Party Selin Sayek Böke: “The Kurdish Question Is a Problem of Democracy”]. Cihan. Retrieved from: http://www.haberler.com/boke-kurt-sorunu-bir-demokrasi-sorunudur-7816727-haberi/.
CNN. (2007, July 30). DTP Meclis’te Grup Başvurusunu Yaptı [Democratic Society Party Made an Application to Form a Parliamentary Group]. CNN Turk. Retrieved from: https://www.cnnturk.com/2007/turkiye/07/30/dtp.mecliste.grup.basvurusunu.yapti/380625.0/index.html.
Eccarius-Kelly, V. (2002). Political Movements and Leverage Points: Kurdish Activism in the European Diaspora. Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 22(1), 91–118.
Efegil, E. (2011). Analysis of the AKP Government’s Policy Toward the Kurdish Issue. Turkish Studies, 12(1), 27–40.
European Commission. (1998). Regular Report from the Commission on Turkey’s Progress Towards Accession. Retrieved from: https://www.ab.gov.tr/files/AB_Iliskileri/Tur_En_Realitons/Progress/Turkey_Progress_Report_1998.pdf.
European Commission. (2005). Turkey 2005 Progress Report (pp. 38–42). Brussels: European Commission. Retrieved from: https://www.ab.gov.tr/files/AB_Iliskileri/Tur_En_Realitons/Progress/Turkey_Progress_Report_2005.pdf.
European Council. (2001, March 24). Turkey: 2000 Accession Partnership. Official Journal of the European Communities L 85/15, pp. 13–23. Retrieved from: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32001D0235.
European Court of Human Rights. (2008, July 8). Case of Yumak and Sadak v. Turkey: Judgment (Application No. 10226/03). European Court of Human Rights. Retrieved from: http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/sites/eng/pages/search.aspx?i=001-87363#{“itemid”:[“001-87363”]}.
European Parliament. (1995). Resolution on the Draft Agreement on the Conclusion of a Customs Union Between the EU and Turkey. Official Journal C 056, 06/03/1995 P. 0099. Retrieved from: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:51995IP0171.
European Parliament. (2009, November 19). European Parliament Resolution of 21 May 2008 on Turkey’s 2007 Progress Report. Official Journal of the European Union 279E, 9.11.2009, pp. 57–64. Retrieved from: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1509659456585&uri=CELEX:52008IP0224.
Fuccaro, N. (1999). The Other Kurds: Yazidis in Colonial Iraq. London: I.B. Tauris.
Fuccaro, N. (2003). Kurds and Kurdish Nationalism in Mandatory Syria: Politics, Culture and Identity. In A. Vali (Ed.), Essays on the Origins of Kurdish Nationalism (pp. 191–217). California: Mazda Publishers.
Gambetti, Z. (2005). The Conflictual (Trans)formation of the Public Sphere in Urban Space: The Case of Diyarbakır. New Perspectives on Turkey, 32(1), 43–71.
Gunter, M. (2008). The Kurds Ascending: The Evolving Solution to the Kurdish Problem in Iraq and Turkey. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Gunter, M. (2013). The Kurdish Spring. Third World Quarterly, 34(3), 441–457.
Haberturk. (2015, March 29). Cumhurbaşkanı Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Önemli Açıklamalar Yaptı [President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Made Important Statements]. Haberturk. Retrieved from: http://www.haberturk.com/gundem/haber/1059491-cumhurbaskani-recep-tayyip-erdogan-onemli-aciklamalar-yapti.
Hassanpour, A. (2003). The Making of Kurdish Identity: Pre-20th Century Historical and Literary Discourses. In A. Vali (Ed.), Essays on the Origins of Kurdish Nationalism (pp. 106–162). California: Mazda Publishers.
Heper, M. (2007). The State and Kurds in Turkey: The Question of Assimilation. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Human Rights Watch. (2010). Turkey. Protesting as a Terrorist Offense the Arbitrary Use of Terrorism Laws to Prosecute and Incarcerate Demonstrators in Turkey. New York: Human Rights Watch.
Hürriyet. (2000, December 8). Kürtçe TV PKK Oyunu [Kurdish TV Is a Game of PKK]. Hürriyet. Retrieved from: http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/kurtce-tv-pkk-oyunu-39204966.
Hürriyet. (2004, January 28). Türkiye’ye “Müzakere Tarihi Verin” Mektubu [“Give Turkey the Date of Negotiations” Letter]. Hürriyet. Retrieved from: http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/turkiyeye-muzakere-tarihi-verin-mektubu-198808.
İhlas. (2016, May 28). Cumhurbaşkanı Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, “Artık Türkiye’de Kürt Sorunu Yok, Terör Sorunu Var” [President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: “There Is No Longer the ‘Kurdish Question’ in Turkey There Is a Problem of Terrorism”]. İhlas Haber Ajansı. Retrieved from: http://www.iha.com.tr/haber-cumhurbaskani-erdogan-artik-turkiyede-kurt-sorunu-yok-teror-sorunu-var-562519/.
International Crisis Group. (2012). Turkey: The PKK and a Kurdish Settlement (Report No. 219). Retrieved from: https://www.crisisgroup.org/europe-central-asia/western-europemediterranean/turkey/turkey-pkk-and-kurdish-settlement.
International Crisis Group. (2014). Turkey and the PKK: Saving the Peace Process (Report No. 234). Retrieved from: https://www.crisisgroup.org/europe-central-asia/western-europemediterranean/turkey/turkey-and-pkk-saving-peace-process.
Kirişci, K. (2011). The Kurdish Issue in Turkey: Limits of European Union Reform. South European Society and Politics, 16(2), 335–349.
Kirişçi, K., & Winrow, G. M. (1997). The Kurdish Question and Turkey: An Example of a Trans-State Ethnic Conflict. London: Frank Cass.
Kurban, D., & Gulalp, H. (2013). A Complicated Affair: Turkey’s Kurds and the European Court of Human Rights. In D. Anagnostou (Ed.), The European Court of Human Rights: Implementing Strasbourg’s Judgments on Domestic Policy (pp. 166–187). Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press.
Kurdish Institute of Paris. (2017, January 12). The Kurdish population. The Kurdish Institute of Paris. Retrieved from: http://www.institutkurde.org/en/info/the-kurdish-population-1232551004.
Landis, D., & Albert, R. D. (Eds.). (2012). Handbook of Ethnic Conflict: International Perspectives. New York: Springer.
Lundgren, A. (2007). The Unwelcome Neighbour: Turkey’s Kurdish Policy. London and New York: I.B. Tauris.
McDowall, D. (1997). A Modern History of the Kurds. London and New York: I.B. Tauris.
Milliyet. (2006, June 27). En Büyük Zararı Yine Kürtler Görür [The Major Sufferings Again Fell on the Kurds]. Milliyet. Retrieved from: http://www.milliyet.com.tr/en-buyuk-zarari-yine-kurtler-gorur/guncel/haberdetayarsiv/27.06.2006/256978/default.htm.
Milliyet. (2008, June 6). Türkiye’deki Kürtlerin Sayısı! [The Number of Kurds in Turkey!]. Milliyet. Retrieved from: http://www.milliyet.com.tr/turkiye-deki-kurtlerin-sayisi–magazin-873452/.
Milliyet. (2009, December 23). Kapatılan DTP’nin 94 Belediye Başkanı BDP’ye Katıldı [94 Mayors for the Closed Democratic Society Party Joined Peace and Democracy Party]. Milliyet. Retrieved from: http://www.milliyet.com.tr/kapatilan-dtp-nin—belediye-baskani-bdp-ye-katildi-siyaset-1177354/.
Milliyet. (2010, October 19). Kürtçe savunma krizi [The Crisis Of Defense In Kurdish]. Milliyet. Retrieved from: http://www.milliyet.com.tr/kurtce-savunma-krizi-gundem-1303344/.
Natali, D. (2005). The Kurds and the State: Evolving National Identity in Iraq, Turkey, and Iran. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.
Natali, D. (2010). The Kurdish Quasi-State: Development and Dependency in Post-Gulf War Iraq. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.
Oğuzlu, T. (2013). The Gezi Park Protests and Its Impact on Turkey’s Soft Power Abroad. Orta Doğu Analiz, 5(55), 10–15.
Olson, R. W. (1998). The Kurdish Question and Turkish-Iranian Relations: From World War I to 1998. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers.
Olson, R. W. (2001). Turkey’s Relations with Iran, Syria, Israel, and Russia, 1991–2000: The Kurdish and Islamist Questions. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers.
Olson, R. W. (2005). The Goat and the Butcher: Nationalism and State Formation in Kurdistan-Iraq Since the Iraqi War. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers.
Olson, R. W. (2011). The Kurdish Nationalist Movements in Turkey, 1980 to 2011: Oppression, Resistance, War, Education in the Mother Tongue and Relations with the Kurdistan Regional Government. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers.
Öniş, Z. (2010). Contesting for Turkey’s Political “Centre”: Domestic Politics, Identity Conflicts and the Controversy over EU Membership. Journal of Contemporary European Studies, 18(3), 361–376.
Orucoglu, B. (2015, January 6). Why Turkey’s Mother of All Corruption Scandals Refuses to Go Away. Foreign Policy. Retrieved from: http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/01/06/why-turkeys-mother-of-all-corruption-scandals-refuses-to-go-away/.
PACE. (1992, January 30). Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Turkey (Document #6553), Retrieved from: http://assembly.coe.int/Documents/WorkingDocs/1992/FDOC6553.pdf.
Radikal. (2012, July 5). Kürtçe Eğitimde q, x ve w Harflerine, Sınırlama Konursa Kabul Etmeyiz [It Will Be Unacceptable If They Put Restrictions on the Letters q, x and w in the Kurdish Education]. Radikal. Retrieved from: http://www.radikal.com.tr/turkiye/kurtce-egitimde-q-x-ve-w-harflerine-sinirlama-konursa-kabul-etmeyiz-1093284/.
Radu, M. (2003). Dangerous Neighborhood: Contemporary Issues in Turkey’s Foreign Relations. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
Romano, D. (2006). The Kurdish Nationalist Movement: Opportunity, Mobilization and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Saylan, İ. (2012). The Europeanization Process and Kurdish Nationalism in Turkey: The Case of the Democratic Society Party. Nationalities Papers, 40(2), 185–202.
Stansfield, G. (2003). Iraqi Kurdistan: Political Development and Emergent Democracy. London: Routledge.
Stansfield, G. (2014). The Kurds and Iraq. London: Routledge.
Stansfield, G. (2016). Iraq: People, History, Politics. Cambridge: Polity Press.
T24. (2016, April 5). AKP’li Ensarioğlu: Yasama bizde, yürütme bizde, yargı bizde, her şey bizde! [Ensarioğlu from the AKP: We Have [Control] Legislation, We Have Executive, We Have Judiciary, We Have Everything!]. T24 Bağımsız Internet Gazetesi. Retrieved from: http://t24.com.tr/haber/akpli-ensarioglu-yasama-bizde-yurutme-bizde-yargi-bizde-her-sey-bizde,334979.
Unver, H. A. (2015). Turkey’s Kurdish Question: Discourse & Politics Since 1990. London: Routledge.
Uslu, E. (2008). The Kurdistan Workers’ Party Turns Against the European Union. Mediterranean Quarterly, 19(2), 99–121.
Watts, N. (2000). Relocating Dersim: Turkish State-Building and Kurdish Resistance, 1931–1938. New Perspectives on Turkey, 23(1), 5–30.
Watts, N. F. (2010). Activists in Office: Kurdish Politics and Protest in Turkey. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press.
Weiss, M. (2016). From Constructive Engagement to Renewed Estrangement? Securitization and Turkey’s Deteriorating Relations with Its Kurdish Minority. Turkish Studies, 17(4), 567–598.
Yavuz, H., & Özcan, N. (2006). The Kurdish Question and Turkey’s Justice and Development Party. Middle East Policy, 13(1), 102–119.
Yegen, M. (2009). “Prospective-Turks” or “Pseudo-Citizens”: Kurds in Turkey. Middle East Journal, 63(4), 597–615.
Yeginsu, C. (2015, September 17). Opposition Journalists Under Assault in Turkey. New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/18/world/europe/opposition-journalists-in-turkey-increasingly-face-violent-attacks.html.
Yıldız, K., & Muller, M. (2006). Turkey’s Accession to the EU: Democracy, Human Rights and the Kurds. London: Kurdish Human Rights Project. Retrieved from: http://www.khrp.org/khrp-news/human-rights-documents/doc_download/87-turkeys-accession-to-the-eu-democracy-human-rights-and-the-kurds.html.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Shlykov, P. (2019). Peace Process, International Organizations and the “Kurdish Question”. In: Kulnazarova, A., Popovski, V. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Global Approaches to Peace. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78905-7_25
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78905-7_25
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-78904-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-78905-7
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)