Ethnicity, Nationalism, and Democracy
The Kurdish Conflict in the Republic of Turkey
Turkey: Geography
•	Transcontinental State
–	Europe (Thrace)
–	Asia (Anatolia)
•	Size:
–	71 million
•	Land Use:
–	Arable Land: 30%
–	Permanent Crops: 3.4%

Turkey: Population
•	Size:
–	71 million 	(17/222)
•	Age Structure:
–	0 – 14:	25%
–	15 – 65:	68%
–	66+:	7%
•	Population Growth:
–	Total growth rate: 	1.04%
–	Fertility Rate:	1.89
–	IMR:	38.33/1000
•	Life Expectancy:
–	72.88 	(103/222)
United States: Population
•	Size:
–	301 million 	(3/222)
•	Age Structure:
–	0 – 14:	20%
–	15 – 65:	67%
–	66+:	13%
•	Population Growth:
–	Total growth rate: 	0.89%
–	Fertility Rate:	2.09
–	IMR:	6.37/1000
•	Life Expectancy:
–	78.00 	(45/222)

Turkey: Population
•	Ethnicity:
–	Turkish	 (?) 80%
–	Kurdish	 (?) 20%
•	Language:
–	Turkish
•	Religion:
–	Muslim	99.0%
•	Sunni	74.5%
•	Shi’a Alevi	19.8%
•	Urban/Rural Split:
–	Urban	66.7%
–	Rural	33.3%

Turkey: Government
•	Government:
–	Parliamentary democracy
–	Proportional representation
•	Justice and Development Party
–	AKP	46.7%	341	-23
•	Republican People’s Party
–	CHP	20.9%	112	-66
•	Nationalist Movement Party
–	MHP	14.3%	71	+71
•	Leaders:
–	President			Abdullah Gül
–	Prime Minister		Recep Erdoğan
–	Speaker of Meclis		Köksal Toptan
The Kurds: Quick Facts
•	Approximately half of all Kurds live in Turkey making up around 20% percent of the Turkish population, they number between 12 to 15 million
•	The majority of Kurds reside in the southeastern corner of the country
•	The government of Turkey spends $6 billion a year fighting its Kurdish separatists 
The Kurds: Religions
•	Islam
–	Sunni
–	Sufi
–	Shi’a
•	Christianity
•	Judaism
The Kurds: Society
•	Language
–	Indo-European
–	Indo-Iranian
–	Iranian
–	Western Iranian
–	Northwestern Iranian
•	Traditional Garb
•	Music
•	Tribal Structure
The Kurds: Ancient History
•	Hurrain Empire
–	3000 BCE – 600 BCE
•	Median Empire
–	6th century BCE
•	Achaemenid Empire
–	6th century BCE – 3rd century BCE
The Kurds: Classical History
•	Greek Empire
–	3rd century BCE – 1st century BCE
•	Roman Empire
–	1st century BCE – 641 CE
The Kurds: Medieval History
•	Arab Rule
–	641 CE – 12th century CE
–	Rashidun Empire 	(632 - 661)
–	Umayyad Empire 	(661 - 750)
–	Abbasid Empire 	(750 - 1258)
–	Fatimid Empire 	(910 - 1171)
•	Seljuk Turks
–	11th century – 14th century CE
•	Ayyubid Dynasty
–	1169 – 13th century CE
•	Principalities
–	13th century – 1514 CE
The Kurds: Modern History
•	Ottoman Empire
–	1514 – 1922
•	Republic of Turkey
–	1914 – present
•	Iran
–	1921 – 1941, 1941 – present
•	Republic of Iraq
–	1919 – 1932
–	1932 - present
•	Syrian Arab Republic
–	1946 – present
Relevant Turkish Treaties
•	Treaty of Paris (1919)
–	Ended World War I
•	National Self-Determination
•	Treaty of Sèvres (1920)
–	Dissolved the Ottoman Empire
–	Created:
•	Wilsonian Armenia
•	Kingdom of Herjaz
•	Iraq 		(British Mandate)
•	Lebanon 	(French Mandate)
•	Palestine 	(British Mandate)
•	Syria 		(French Mandate)
•	Treaty of Ankara (1921)
–	Dropped French claims on Turkey
–	Dropped Turkish claims on Syria
•	Treaty of Lausanne (1923)
–	Replaced the Treaty of Sèvres
–	Settled Anatolian issues
–	Settled borders of Turkey
–	Turkey was successor state to the Ottoman Empire
Kurdish Rebellions
•	Koçkiri Rebellion 	(1920)
•	Sheikh Said Piran’s
Rebellion	(1925 )
•	Shaikh Abdurrahman’s
Rebellion 	(1927)
•	The Agri (Ararat) Rebellion	(1927-1930)
•	The Dersim Rebellions	(1937)
Turkish Suppression
•	Recognition
–	No official recognize of any minority ethnic groups
–	Kurds called “Mountain Turks”
•	Turkification 
–	Forced assimilation
–	Suppression of Kurds
•	Suppression
–	Kurdish language 
–	Kurdish culture
The Separatist Group
•	The Kurdistan Workers Party
–	Kürdistan İşçi Partisi	(KIP)
–	Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan	(PKK)
•	Created:
–	1974 
•	Leader:
–	Abdullah Öcalan, captured
•	Goal:
–	Independent Marxist Kurdish state in present-day Kurdistan
•	Strength:
–	Regular fighters are estimated at 15,000 in and around Turkey
•	Killings
–	Total	37,000
–	Civilians	32,000
–	Military personnel	5,000
•	Annual Budget
–	Expenditures	86 million USD
–	Sources:
•	Human Trafficking
•	Drug Trafficking
•	Donations
•	Extortion
PKK Timeline
•	Formed: 		1974
•	Major fighting began: 	1984
•	Violence increased: 	1990
•	1991 
–	Marxist state no longer goal
•	February 1999
–	Abdullah Öcalan captured
•	January 2004
–	US declares it a terrorist group
•	September 2006
–	Another unilateral ceasefire
Turkey’s Political Response
•	External Pressure
–	EU
–	UN
•	Post-9/11 and US relations
–	Turkey steamrolled by US
–	US support of anti-terrorism
•	July 2003 Reforms:
–	Adoption of “Reintegration Law”
–	Amended the Census Law
–	Reforms allowing the use of non-Turkish languages
–	Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law revoked
And Now
•	Currently an estimated 1 to 3 millions IDPs
•	Tens of thousands killed
•	Hundreds of villages destroyed
•	Human rights violations
•	Terrorism by PKK
Conceivable Solutions
•	Kurdish integration approach
•	Total secession approach 
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