Janroj Yilmaz Keles is a research fellow at the Department of Leadership, Work and Organisations, Business School, Middlesex University, with an interest in globalisation, media, nationalism, ethnicity, identity, representation, ethno-national conflict, migration, stateless diasporas, transnational political activism and the labour market.
Janroj Yilmaz Keles offers a study that is truly impressive in its scope and understanding but it is also a sobering account of banal transnationalism. He demonstrates how, paradoxically, transnational media de-territorialise Turkish and Kurdish ethno-national conflict but at the same time make that conflict an integral part of migrants? everyday lives in Europe. A must-read for scholars and students interested in the enduring significance and everyday mediation of ethno-national identities.
Marie Gillespie, Professor of Sociology, The Open University
Sometimes when we witness a great idea at work, we wonder why didnt anyone think of this before? I had this feeling reading Janroj Yilmaz Keless book it often seems that communities far removed from their homelands harbour more rigid identities and less compromising national ideologies than their kin back home. In a clear yet theoretically informed analysis, Dr Keles uses the Turkish and Kurdish cases to illuminate the phenomenon and show how transnational media plays a key role in this process.
David Romano, Professor of Middle East Politics, Missouri State University
MEDIA,
DIASPORA AND
CONFLICT
Nationalism and Identity amongst Kurdish
and Turkish Migrants in Europe
J ANROJ Y ILMAZ K ELES
Published in 2015 by
I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd
London New York
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Copyright 2015 Janroj Yilmaz Keles
The right of Janroj Yilmaz Keles to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Every attempt has been made to gain permission for the use of the images in this book. Any omissions will be rectified in future editions.
References to websites were correct at the time of writing.
International Library of Migration Studies 8
ISBN: 978 1 78453 039 6
eISBN: 978 0 85773 914 8
A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
A full CIP record is available from the Library of Congress
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: available
To Nawruz, Arjen, Rosa and Umut
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Censored Yeni Politika newspaper, 1995.
Censored Yeni Politika newspaper, 1995.
News from Hrriyet newspaper (13 August 1984).
From Hrriyet newspaper (17 February 1999).
Headline of Hrriyet (18 February 1999) in capital letters and bold: DEFEAT (TKEN).
The representation of calan in some Kurdish media. In publishing such images, some Kurdish media aims to create direct and symbolic communication between him and his followers.
calan in his small room in Imrali Prison reading the newspaper.
On 10 November 2001, zgr Politika newspaper published the first pictures of the PKK leader Abdullah calan days in captivity. A photograph of calan in the prison yard (see Figure 5.7 below).
The picture of calan zoomed-out (Imrali Prison, 2001).
The Imprisoned Kurdish PKK leader Abdullah calan (L) in a meeting with Kurdish lawmakers Selahattin Demirta (C), Pervin Buldan (R) in 2013 in mral Prison.
Footage of captured PKK leader calan, 1998. This photo was released to the national and international media by the Turkish state when calan was captured and taken from Kenya to Turkey. It shows footage of the humiliated, blindfolded and handcuffed calan in front of Turkish flags. The Turkish media triumphantly broadcasted/printed this picture to announce the victory of the Turkish state over the Kurds. However the image almost caused civil war to break out in Turkey between Turkish and Kurdish ethnic groups and also changed the Turkish and Kurdish migrants? relationship in Europe.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book owes much to all the people who provided generous support and assistance to me throughout the PhD. My greatest gratitude goes to my supervisor Dr Peter Wilkin, whose support was invaluable through all the stages of the project. I am extremely grateful to Professor John Tulloch and Dr Lesley Henderson who supervised the thesis in its early stages. My sincerest thanks go to all the participants of the focus groups, in-depth and key informant interviews. In Sweden I would like to thank Arjen Otlu, Ali ifti (owner of Apec Publishing), Amed Tigris, Zelal Bal and the Kurdish Library in Sweden in particular M. Malmisanij and Prof. Haci Akman (Norway). In Germany, I would like to thank Dr Susanne Schwalgin, Dr Loquman Turgut, Anna Kersting, Marianne Marckwardt, Frank Spies, Claudia Sternberg, Aysel Adgzel, mit zer, Hseyin zer, Elif zer and Skran and Ersin Erdoan and the Europische Zentrum fr Kurdische Studien / Berliner Gesellschaft zur Frderung der Kurdologie e. V. In the United Kingdom I would like to thank zgen and Ilhan Gen, Halil Gam, Sema Gencer, Dr Maja Cederberg and the Turkish and Kurdish communities in the three countries. All of them helped with setting up interviews and other aspects of the research and I am extremely grateful to them. I would like to thank the journalists and media professionals of Hrriyet, Milliyet, Zaman, Yeni zgr Politika, Roj TV, Telgraf London, and Anadolu Ajansi for generously agreeing to be interviewed. Elizabeth Rutherford, Dr Jaffer Sheyholislami (Canada), Dr Jude Bloomfield, Dr Necla Acik, Prof. Jane Holgate, Dr Lena Kumarappan, Prof. Allan Williams, Rosie Phipps, Mandy Walker have generously given detailed feedback and comments on some of the chapters. Special thanks to Dr Jude Bloomfield who read each chapter and made relevant corrections.
I would also like to acknowledge and thank Prof. Alice Bloch at City University London and Dr John Roberts. I am thankful for their knowledge, insight, comments, suggestions and feedback.
Brunel University generously funded this PhD and the Kurt Tucholsky-Stiftung (Hamburg) provided funding during the subsequent writing up of the research. I would like to thank them and in particular Heide Sommer and Prof. Dr Fritz J. Raddatz for their commitment. Thank you to my colleague Carole Boudeau at Brunel University for encouragement. Business School Middlesex Universitys Post-Doc position gave me the opportunety to revise and update this study. I own a considerable debt of gratitude to Anna Kyprianou, Dean and Pro Vice-Chancellor of Middlesex University Business School and Prof. Richard Croucher.
I would like to convey my appreciation to my children, Arjen and Rosa, for their indulgence and keeping my spirits up while I was writing this book. They and the book grew up together.
Finally, I want to express my deepest gratitude to my wife, Dr Umut Erel, who has studied migration and gender for nearly 15 years. I benefited immeasurably from our discussions and from her intellectual input.
