Publication date:

20 June 2013

Length of book:

272 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

Dimensions:

234x158mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9780739184028

This edited volume, comprising chapters by leading academics and experts, aims to clarify the complexity of Turkey’s Kurdish question. The Kurdish question is a long-standing, protracted issue, which gained regional and international significance largely in the last thirty years. The Kurdish people who represent the largest ethnic minority in the Middle East without a state have demanded autonomy and recognition since the post-World I wave of self-governance in the region, and their nationalist claims have further intensified since the end of the Cold War. The present volume first describes the evolution of Kurdish nationalism, its genesis during the late nineteenth century in the Ottoman Empire, and its legacy into the new Turkish republic. Second, the volume takes up the violent legacy of Kurdish nationalism and analyzes the conflict through the actions of the PKK, the militant pro-Kurdish organization which grew to be the most important actor in the process. Third, the volume deals with the international dimensions of the Kurdish question, as manifested in Turkey’s evolving relationships with Syria, Iraq, and Iran, the issue regarding the status of the Kurdish minorities in these countries, and the debate over the Kurdish problem in Western capitals.
Considering the regional and international ramifications of the Kurdish question in the Middle East, the scholarly attention paid to this topic has historically been inadequate and the subject matter remains in need of serious study. It is therefore welcome that Understanding Turkey’s Kurdish Question specifically sets out to examine the country with the largest Kurdish population in the world at a time when it is struggling to come to terms with this reality. This edited, multi-authored volume brings together both established and new scholars as well as veteran Turkish journalists, some of who have written extensively on the topic over the years.