Writing the USA as Imperial Power

Abstract

This chapter deals with the rise of anti-Americanism within Kurdish nationalism in the 1970s, the PKK’s discourse on the Turkish state as a puppet of US imperialism, and the PKK’s so-called war against US imperialism in the Middle East, respectively. By closely examining the PKK’s discourse on the USA and its policies in the Middle East, this chapter aims to show the role of anti-American discourse in delegitimizing the Turkish state in the eyes of its Kurdish citizens, normalizing the fight of the PKK against traditional Kurdish social forces, and making the PKK responsible for saving the Kurds from slavery under US imperialism supported by the Turkish state and traditional Kurdish social forces. While the description of the Turkish state as a puppet of US imperialism dismantles the identificatory process, which is vital in making the Turkish state the legitimate representative of Kurdish people, the discourse on the war of emancipation against US imperialism not only produces a new identificatory process for the Kurds in Turkey but also generates obligations/responsibilities that inscribe the PKK into the center of power.