Saeed - KURDISH POLITICS IN TURKEY: from the pkk to the kck

In the aftermath of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the Kurds were promised their own state. However, several factors, including rapid changes in the political interests of the main powers in the region, meant that this dream never became a reality, and the land of the Kurds was divided. Amid a sense of a loss of identity, the Kurds started to fight for their social and political rights.

Kurdish Politics in Turkey argues that the Kurdish struggle during the twentieth century has largely been a failure, and that the emergence of the Unions of Communities in Kurdistan (KCK) has been a direct result of this. The book examines the success of the KCK and how it has transformed this Kurdish struggle in Turkey from a one-dimensional political movement, to a multi-dimensional social movement. The book argues that this transformation has brought about the notion of democratic autonomy as an alternative to the nation state model in Turkey. This new discourse of multi-dimensional struggle is, in particular, compared to the old discourse of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which came to light as a reaction to Turkish state policy towards the Kurds.

Kurdish Politics in Turkey offers the first comprehensive analysis of the Kurdish Struggle and the KCK within Turkey, and is therefore a unique and valuable resource for students and scholars of Middle East Politics, as well as those with an interest in Social Movements and the Kurdish struggles during the past few decades.

Seevan Saeed is a lecturer in the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, UK.

Routledge Studies in Middle Eastern Politics

For a full list of titles in this series, please visit www.routledge.com

74The Europeanization of Turkey

Ali Tekin and Aylin Gney

75Turkeys Kurdish Question

H. Akin Unver

76The Israeli Conflict System

Harvey Starr and Stanley Dubinsky

77Political Violence and Kurds in Turkey

Mehmet Orhan

78The Europeanization of Turkish Public Policies

Ali Tekin and Aylin Gney

79Diasporic Activism in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Svenja Gertheiss

80Israels Military Operations in Gaza

Marouf Hasian, Jr.

81The Turkish AK Party and its Leader

Edited by mit Cizre

82Democratic Consolidation in Turkey

Edited by Cengiz Erisen and Paul Kubicek

83Saudi Arabian Foreign Relations

Rene Rieger

84Kurdish Politics in Turkey

Seevan Saeed

First published 2017

by Routledge

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2017 Seevan Saeed

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Saeed, Seevan, author
Title: Kurdish politics in Turkey : from the PKK to the KCK / Seevan
Saeed.
Other titles: Routledge studies in Middle Eastern politics ; 84.
Description: Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge,
2017. | Series: Routledge studies in Middle Eastern politics ; 84 |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016016330 | ISBN 9781138195295 (hardback) | ISBN
9781315638485 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: KurdsTurkeyPolitics and government20th century. |
Koma Civaken Kurdistan. | Partiya Karkeren Kurdistane.
Classification: LCC DR435.K87 S24 2017 | DDC 323.1191/5970561dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016016330

ISBN: 978-1-138-19529-5 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-1-315-63848-5 (ebk)

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To:
My Mother
The first and best
Teacher of my life