Comparative Kurdish Politics in the Middle East: Actors, Ideas, and Interests

241 Pages·2018·2.45 MB·English

by  Emel Elif Tugdar

COMPARATIVE KURDISH
POLITICS IN THE MIDDLE EAST
ACTORS, IDEAS, AND INTERESTS
Edited By Emel Elif Tugdar and Serhun Al
Comparative Kurdish Politics in the Middle East
Emel Elif Tugdar · Serhun Al
Editors
Comparative Kurdish
Politics in the Middle
East
Actors, Ideas, and Interests
Editors
Emel Elif Tugdar Serhun Al
Department of Politics İzmir University of Economics
and International Balçova-İzmir, Turkey
University of Kurdistan Hewler
Erbil, Iraq
ISBN 978-3-319-53714-6 ISBN 978-3-319-53715-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-53715-3
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017940378
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C
ontents
Part I Actors
1 Iraqi Kurdistan’s Statehood Aspirations and Non-Kurdish
Actors: The Case of the Turkomans 3
Emel Elif Tugdar
2 Kurdish Political Parties in Syria: Past Struggles
and Future Expectations 27
Bekir Halhalli
Part II Ideas
3 Human Security Versus National Security: Kurds, Turkey
and Syrian Rojava 57
Serhun Al
4 Kurdish Nationalist Organizations, Neighboring States,
and “Ideological Distance” 85
F. Michael Wuthrich
v
vi CONTENTS
5 Statehood, Autonomy, or Unitary Coexistence?
A Comparative Analysis of How Kurdish Groups
Approach the Idea of Self-Determination 113
Cenap Çakmak
Part III Interests
6 Islam and the Kurdish Peace Process in Turkey
(2013–2015) 137
Ina Merdjanova
7 Ethnic Capital Across Borders and Regional Development:
A Comparative Analysis of Kurds in Iraq and Turkey 163
Serhun Al and Emel Elif Tugdar
8 In Search of Futures: Uncertain Neoliberal Times,
Speculations, and the Economic Crisis in Iraqi Kurdistan 185
Umut Kuruuzum
9 The Stateless and Why Some Gain and Others not: The
Case of Iranian Kurdistan 201
Idris Ahmedi
Conclusion 227
Index 233
e C
ditors and ontributors
About the Editors
Emel Elif Tugdar holds the position of Assistant Professor and Chair
in Department of Politics and International Relations at University of
Kurdistan Hawler in Erbil/Kurdistan Region of Iraq. She holds a Ph.D.
in Political Science from West Virginia University (USA). Her research
agenda includes ethnopolitics, human rights, and politics of gender
with a major focus on the Middle East, specifically Turkey and Iraqi
Kurdistan. Her email address is: [email protected].
Serhun Al is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political
Science and International Relations at Izmir University of Economics,
Turkey. He holds a doctorate degree in Political Science from the
University of Utah, USA. His research interests include politics of iden-
tity, ethnic conflict, security studies, and social movements. His pri-
mary geographical focus is on Turkey and the Kurds in the Middle East.
He has widely published in journals such as Ethnopolitics, Studies in
Ethnicity and Nationalism, Nationalities Papers, Globalizations, Journal
of International Relations and Development, and Journal of Balkan and
Near Eastern Studies. His email address is: [email protected].
vii
viii EDITORS AND CONTRIBUTORS
Contributors
Idris Ahmedi holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Stockholm
University, where he worked as a senior lecturer until 2015. He has
been a visiting scholar at the Department of Government at Georgetown
University, Washington D.C., and a tutor at the Department of Security,
Strategy and Leadership at the Swedish Defense University. Currently, he
serves as Senior Lecturer In Political Science at the School of Natural
Sciences, Technology and Environmental Studies, Södertörn University.
He is also a member of the International Expert Group of the Olof
Palme International Center (2016–2017). His email address is idris.
[email protected].
Cenap Çakmak received his Ph.D. from Rutgers University in Global
Affairs. He currently works as Professor of International Law and Politics
at Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Turkey. Dr. Çakmak’s research inter-
ests include international criminal law, human rights, and international
affairs. His email address is [email protected].
Bekir Halhalli received his B.A. in International Relations from The
American University of Cyprus in 2011 and his M.A. focused on Kurdish
Question and Turkish Foreign Policy from the same University in 2013.
He was an (Erasmus) exchange Ph.D. student at Comenius University
in Bratislava, Slovakia in 2014–2015. He is currently completing his
Ph.D. in International Relations at Sakarya University. He has publica-
tions written in English and Turkish in peer-reviewed academic jour-
nals, as book chapters and conference papers. He is also author of “Arab
Spring and The Kurds: The Paradox of Turkish Foreign Policy”. His cur-
rent research interests include International Relations Theories, Turkish
Foreign Policy in the Middle East and Kurdish Question. His email
address is [email protected].
Umut Kuruuzum is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of
Anthropology in London School of Economics and Political Science. His
research interests include political economy and cultural anthropology
with a focus on Iraqi Kurds. His email address is [email protected].
Ina Merdjanova is a Senior Researcher and an Adjunct Assistant
Professor in Religious Studies at the Irish School of Ecumenics, Trinity
College Dublin. She had held visiting fellowships at Oxford University,
Birmingham University, the Center for Advanced Studies in the
EDITORS AND CONTRIBUTORS ix
Humanities at Edinburgh University, the Woodrow Wilson International
Center for Scholars in Washington DC, the Netherlands Institute for
Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences, the Central
European University in Budapest, Radboud University in Nijmegen
and Aleksanteri Institute at Helsinki University. Her recent publica-
tions include Religion as a Conversation Starter: Interreligious Dialogue
for Peacebuilding in the Balkans (with Patrice Brodeur; Continuum
2009), and Rediscovering the Umma: Muslims in the Balkans between
Nationalism and Transnationalism (Oxford University Press 2013). Her
email address is [email protected].
F. Michael Wuthrich is a Visiting Assistant Professor and Academic
Director of the Global & International Studies Programs at the
University of Kansas. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from
Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey in 2011. His articles have appeared
in the International Journal of Middle East Studies, Middle East Journal,
and Turkish Studies, among others. His book National Elections in
Turkey: People, Politics, and the Party System was published by Syracuse
University Press in July 2015. His email address is [email protected].
L f
ist of igures
Fig. 7.1 K.R.G.’s ranking in Turkey’s export 176
xi