The Kurds in Erdoğan’s Turkey: Balancing Identity, Resistance and Citizenship

William Gourlay

Published by Edinburgh University Press 2020

The Kurds in Erdoğan’s Turkey

Balancing Identity, Resistance and Citizenship

William Gourlay

In the series Edinburgh Studies on Modern Turkey

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781474459228

Overview
Contents

About this book

Investigates Kurdish political identity under the tightening rule of the Justice and Development Party in Turkey

Examines Kurdish identity in the Republic of Turkey and inquires whether there is room for pluralism in Turkey’s political sphere
Incorporates data gathered in the streets, bazaars and teahouses of Istanbul and Diyarbakır, the most important Kurdish-populated cities in Turkey
Documents Kurds’ participation in electoral politics and traditions of civilian resistance within the context of Turkey’s pursuit of liberal democracy
Considers central elements of Kurdish identity – language, culture, and geography – and how these are contested between government and Kurdish narratives
Provides a detailed examination of the Kurds’ struggle in Turkey at a time of rising Islamism and authoritarianism and emerging trans-national Kurdish mobilisation

This book examines the circumstances of the Kurds in 21st century Turkey, under the hegemony of the AKP government. After decades of denial, oppression and conflict, Kurds now assert a more confident presence in Turkey’s politics – but does increasing visibility mean a rejection of Turkey?

Recording Kurdish voices from Istanbul and Diyarbakır, Turkey’s most important Kurdish-populated cities, this book generates new understandings of Kurdish identity and political aspirations. Highlighting elements of Kurdish identity including Newroz, the Kurdish language, connections to religion, landscape and cross-border ties, it offers a portrait of Kurdish political life in a Turkey increasingly dominated by its president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Within the context of Turkey’s troubled trajectory towards democratisation, it documents Kurdish narratives of oppression and resistance, and enquires how Kurds reconcile their distinct ethnic identity and citizenship in modern Turkey.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	v
List of Figures Publicly Available Download PDF	vi
Acknowledgements Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Introduction: Eruption in Diyarbakır Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1 Identity, ethnicity, politics: from Kemalism to ‘New Turkey’ Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	18
2 Talking to Kurds about ‘Identity’ Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	43
3 Demarcating Kurdish culture Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	59
4 The Kurds and Islam: defying hegemony and the ‘caliphate’ Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	84
5 Contesting homeland(s): city, soil and landscape Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	112
6 Kurdayetî: Pan-Kurdish sentiment and solidarity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	141
7 Oppression, solidarity, resistance Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	167
8 Kurds as citizens Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	193
Conclusion: reconciling ethnic identity, citizenship and the ‘ideal’ in Erdoğan’s Turkey? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	221
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	235
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	266

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Audience: College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 266
Illustrations
- Other: 10 B/W illustrations
Keywords: Islamic Studies

eBook

Published: March 24, 2022
ISBN: 9781474459228