Dissecting Turkey’s “Hidden War”: a Discussion of Turkey’s Conflict with its Kurdish Minority and the Securitisation Measures surrounding Violence in Northern Syria and Southern Turkey
Keywords:
turkey, kurdistan, kurds, isis, daesh, middle east, terror, terrorismAbstract
Turkey has been fighting a war against the ethnic minority Kurds in the east of its territory, and refusing to support the Kurds that are fighting ISIS/Daesh in northern Syria and Iraq. This essay intends to uncover, via a securitisation process, the motivations behind Turkey's domestic and external responses to the Kurdish conflicts. As well, the essay wants to show that Turkey's responses have a profound impact on the international community, with much stronger political effects on Turkey's geographical neighbours.By analysing primary documents, as well as examining experiences from those who have traveled to the region and work closely with Kurds and Turks, this essay will shape a picture of the messy relations between the actors involved in the Syrian conflict, and showing how each political action must be weighed carefully in order to maintain power balances.References
Alkoussa, Riham, Giorgos Christides, Ann-Katrin Müller, Peter Müller, Maximillian Popp, Christoph Schult, and Wolf Wiedermann-Schmidt. "'Disaster in the Making': The Many Failures of the EU-Turkey Refugee Deal - SPIEGEL ONLINE." May 26, 2016. Accessed July 20, 2016. http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/the-refugee-deal-between-the-eu-and-turkey-is-failing-a-1094339.html.
Almukhtar, Sarah, and Tim Wallace. "Why Turkey Is Fighting the Kurds Who Are Fighting ISIS." The New York Times. August 11, 2015. Accessed July 18, 2016. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/08/12/world/middleeast/turkey-kurds-isis.html.
Barnard, Anne, Michael R. Gordon, and Eric Schmitt. "Turkey and U.S. Plan to Create Syria ‘Safe Zone’ Free of ISIS." The New York Times. July 27, 2015. Accessed July 18, 2016. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/28/world/middleeast/turkey-and-us-agree-on-plan-to-clear-isis-from-strip-of-northern-syria.html.
Blaser, Noah, and Aaron Stein. "The PKK’s Urban Warfare Tactics." Atlantic Council. February 9, 2016. Accessed July 27, 2016. http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/the-pkk-s-urban-warfare-tactics.
Casier, Marlies. "Designated Terrorists: The Kurdistan Workers' Party and Its Struggle to (Re)Gain Political Legitimacy." Mediterranean Politics 15, no. 3 (2010): 393-413. doi:10.1080/13629395.2010.517105.
Egin, Oray. "THE GAME CHANGER: Syria, Iran, and Kurdish Independence." World Affairs 176, no. 1 (May/June 2013): 64-72.
ESISC Team. "PKK Terrorist Organisation: Tactics, Strategy and the Future." PKK Terrorist Organisation: Tactics, Strategy and the Future. September 6, 2011. Accessed July 27, 2016. http://www.esisc.org/publications/briefings/pkk-terrorist-organisation-tactics-strategy-and-the-future.
"EU Calls on Turkey to Renew Kurdish Settlement Process - Mogherini." Sputnik News. March 7, 2016. Accessed July 27, 2016. http://sputniknews.com/politics/20160307/1035908648/eu-turkey-kurds-urging.html
Euractiv.com. "Turkey Asks World to Ignore Campaign against Kurds." EurActivcom Turkey Asks World to Ignore Campaign against Kurds Comments. September 25, 2015. Accessed July 06, 2016. http://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/news/turkey-asks-world-to-ignore-campaign-against-kurds/.
European Commission. "EU-Turkey Agreement: Questions and Answers." News release, March 19, 2016. European Commission Press Release Database. Accessed July 27, 2016. http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-16-963_en.htm.
European Commission Directorate-General for Trade. "Trade-Turkey." April 29, 2016. Accessed July 27, 2016. http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/countries/turkey/.
Floyd, Rita. "Towards a Consequentialist Evaluation of Security: Bringing Together the Copenhagen and the Welsh Schools of Security Studies." Review of International Studies 33, no. 2 (April 2007): 327-50.
Foley, Michael, and Aaron Stein. "The YPG-PKK Connection." Atlantic Council. January 26, 2016. Accessed July 27, 2016. http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/the-ypg-pkk-connection.
Gunter, Michael. "The Kurdish Question in Perspective." World Affairs 166, no. 4 (2004): 197-205. doi:10.3200/wafs.166.4.197-205.
Gursel, Kadri. "Why Erdogan Can't End PKK War." Al-Monitor. April 05, 2016. Accessed July 27, 2016. http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/04/turkey-clashes-pkk-erdogan-kurdish-war-impasse.html.
"The Human Cost of the PKK Conflict in Turkey: The Case of Sur." International Crisis Group. http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/europe/turkey-cyprus/turkey/b080-the-human-cost-of-the-pkk-conflict-in-turkey-the-case-of-sur.pdf.
Jones, Dorian. "NATO, Turkey in 'Solidarity' on IS, PKK Strikes." VOA. July 28, 2015. Accessed July 20, 2016. http://www.voanews.com/content/nato-chief-back-turkey-anti-terror-campaign-in-syria-and-iraq/2881296.html.
Kozok, Firat, and Onur Ant. "Turkey Moves to Prosecute Most Pro-Kurdish Party Lawmakers." Bloomberg.com. May 20, 2016. Accessed July 19, 2016. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-20/turkey-moves-to-prosecute-almost-all-pro-kurdish-party-lawmakers.
"Kurdish Conflict." Council on Foreign Relations. 2016. Accessed July 18, 2016. http://www.cfr.org/global/global-conflict-tracker/p32137#!/conflict/kurdish-conflict.
Lubliner, Corey. "Turkey’s “Turkish Problem”." PhD diss., UC Berkely, 2002.
Nathan, James A., and Graham Allison. "The Cuban Missile Crisis Revisited: Why It Matters Who Blinked." Foreign Affairs 91, no. 6 (November/December 2012): 163-66.
Patryk Pawlak, "Conflict in Syria: Trigger Factors and the EU Response," European Parliamentary Research Service, January 2016, , accessed July 19, 2016,http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2016/573924/EPRS_BRI(2016)573924_EN.pdf.
Said, Edward W. Orientalism. Toronto, Ontario: Random House, 1978.
Sly, Liz, and Karen DeYoung. "Ignoring Turkey, U.S. Backs Kurds in Drive against ISIS in Syria." Washington Post. June 1, 2016. Accessed July 20, 2016. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/us-backs-kurds-in-drive-against-isis-in-syria-despite-turkish-objections/2016/06/01/7bacf6fa-2808-11e6-8329-6104954928d2_story.html.
Solaker, Gulsen, and Ece Toksabay. "Erdogan Taking Turkey to War to Avenge Kurdish Gains - Opposition." Reuters UK. July 30, 2015. Accessed July 27, 2016. http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-mideast-crisis-turkey-kurds-idUKKCN0Q416120150730.
Solomon, Erika, and Mehul Srivastava. "US Calls on Turkey to Stop Shelling Kurds in Syria." Financial Times. February 14, 2016. Accessed July 27, 2016. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8e30cc8e-d317-11e5-8887-98e7feb46f27.html#axzz4FcnTw73z.
Stratfor Global Intelligence. "Turkey: Air Base Deal Signed With U.S." E-mail. July 29, 2015.
Totten, Michael J. "The Trouble with Turkey: Erdogan, ISIS, and the Kurds." World Affairs Journal. Fall 2015. Accessed July 19, 2016. http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/article/trouble-turkey-erdogan-isis-and-kurds .
"Turkey's Army Is Mighty In Numbers, Not Weapons." Al-Monitor. September 10, 2012. Accessed July 18, 2016. http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/01/09/turkish-army-personnel-versus-tools.html.
UNHCR. "UNHCR Syria Regional Refugee Response." Accessed July 18, 2016. http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/country.php?id=224.
United States of America. Department of State. Bureau for Counterterrorism. Foreign Terrorist Organizations. 2016.
Worth, Robert F. "Behind the Barricades of Turkey’s Hidden War." The New York Times. May 28, 2016. Accessed July 06, 2016. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/29/magazine/behind-the-barricades-of-turkeys-hidden-war.html?_r=0.
Winter, Chase. "European Parliament Slams Turkey over Deterioration of Rights and Democracy | News | DW.COM | 14.04.2016." DW.COM. April 14, 2016. Accessed July 20, 2016. http://www.dw.com/en/european-parliament-slams-turkey-over-deterioration-of-rights-and-democracy/a-19189464 .
Yeğen, Mesut. "The Turkish State Discourse and the Exclusion of Kurdish Identity." Middle Eastern Studies 32, no. 2 (April 1996): 216-29. doi:10.1080/00263209608701112.
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
