Turkey's Kurdish Question

by Henri J. Barkey, Graham E. Fuller, Morton I. Abramowitz (Foreword)

The Kurds, one of the oldest ethnic groups in the Middle East, are reasserting their identity―politically and through violence. Divided mainly among Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria, the Kurds have posed increasingly sharp challenges to all of these states in their quest for greater autonomy if not outright independence. Turkey's essentially democratic structure and civil society_ideal tools for coping with and incorporating minority challenge_have so far been suspended on this issue, which the government is treating almost exclusively as a security problem to be dealt with by force. For the West the situation in Turkey is particularly significant because of the country's importance in the region and because of the economic, political, and diplomatic damage that the conflict has caused. If Turkey fails to find a peaceful solution within its current borders, then the outlook is grim for ethnic and separatist challenges elsewhere in the region. This study explores the roots, dimensions, character, and evolution of the problem, offers a range of approaches to a resolution of the conflict, and draws broader parallels between the Kurdish question and other separatist movements worldwide.

Genres: Politics, History

272 pages, Paperback

First published April 9, 1998

Reviews

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 2 out of 5]

i respect Fuller and Pipes
but i may not agree with them fully

---

Turkey's Kurdish Question.

In the heat of the United Nations debate in 1948 surrounding the decision to create a Jewish state, Warren Austin, the American ambassador, vented his frustration by calling on Arabs and Jews to "settle this problem in a true Christian spirit." Fifty years later, his appeal is still laughingly remembered.

Barkey and Fuller, two specialists on Turkey, write nothing so silly in their attempt to find ways for Turks and Kurds to make peace, but their recommendations do have a comparably provincial quality: basically, they want those two peoples to solve their problem in what might be called "a true American spirit."

That is, after a spirited survey of the Kurdish issue, they offer a host of recommendations, every one of which is reasonable, desirable, sensible-and ineffably American. Recognize the Kurdish language, they say, end government propagandizing, give up attempts to establish a unitary ethnic polity, redress economic ills, reduce the security presence, legalize the Kurdish political parties, withdraw the military from politics, permit greater freedom of expression, decentralize the government, and experiment with federalism.

Even so, the authors do not guarantee these demanding steps will do the trick, conceding only that they offer a possibility for the present Turkish state to remain intact. But Barkey and Fuller probably overestimate the chances of Americanizing Turkish politics, just as they underestimate the staying power of the Turkish Republic.

The region's states (like Lebanon and Iraq) may be held together with string and sealing wax, but they do seem to survive, at no matter what the cost. Even without fulfilling our authors' recommendations, today's Turkey seems likely to remain whole.

Daniel Pipes

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book frankly addresses the questions related to the Kurdish question in Turkey. It is great that it is not simply called the Kurdish problem as so many authors do. This is a unbiased source that holds the Kurds as terrorists when their actions are such and refugees when the excess of the Turkish government take hold. The analysis of how Kurds have integrated into political parties was of particular interest and there is a nice section on how religion affects Kurdish roles which I found particularly interesting. The solutions to the question are put forth in a straightforward and logical manner. The most pressing solution is that this is an ethnic problem and requires an ethnic solution resulting in a multiethnic state which Turkey wishes to resist. The authors make the point that the Kurds do not have an agenda for a separate state and most don't consider that a realistic goal anyway. Overall this is an essential book to read to understand the Kurdish question.

[Fatih Talu · Rating 4 out of 5]

CIA Türkiye masası eski şefi Graham Fuller'den okunması gereken bir çalışma...