Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-mp689 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T18:41:43.210Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Europeanization process and Kurdish nationalism in Turkey: the case of the Democratic Society Party

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

İbrahim Saylan
İbrahim Saylan*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey
*
* Email: isaylan@bilkent.edu.tr
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study aims at analyzing the impact of the European integration process on Kurdish nationalism in Turkey by focusing on the Democratic Society Party (Demokratik Toplum Partisi, DTP) as the major pro-Kurdish political party in Turkey between 2005 and 2009. It argues that the Europeanization process in Turkey, which accelerated in the post-Helsinki period, has brought about some important consequences concerning the recognition and expression of Kurdish identity. The study examines Europe's impact on the DTP through analysis of party documents and interviews with party representatives, in order to investigate the meaning and use of the European integration process in the DTP's sub-state nationalist ideology. This analysis shows that, although the Europeanization process in Turkey has somewhat broadened opportunity structures for Kurdish sub-state nationalist politics, overall the EU's impact on the DTP's nationalist politics has remained indirect and limited.

Keywords

DTPKurdish nationalismopportunity structuresEuropean integration
Type
Articles
Information
Nationalities Papers , Volume 40 , Issue 2 , March 2012 , pp. 185 - 202
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 Association for the Study of Nationalities 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Akyol, Mustafa. Kürt Sorununu Yeniden Düşünmek [Rethinking the Kurdish Question]. İstanbul: Doğan Kitap, 2006. Print.Google Scholar
Aydın, Delal. “Mobilizing the Kurds: Newroz as a Myth.” Master's thesis, Middle East Technical University, 2005. Print.Google Scholar
“Ayna: Atatürk'ün Kürtlere verdiği söz tutulsun” [Ayna: The promises given by Atatürk should be kept]. Radikal, 11 July 2009. Web. 7 Jan. 2012. <http://www.radikal.com.tr/Radikal.aspx?aType=RadikalDetay&ArticleID=944628&Date=13.07.2009&CategoryID=78>..>Google Scholar
“Anayasa Mahkemesinin E: 2007/1 (Siyasi Parti-Kapatma), K: 2009/4 Sayılı Kararı.” T.C. Resmi Gazete, 14 Dec. 2009. Web. 7 Jan. 2012. <http://www.resmi-gazete.org/rega/anayasa-mahkemesinin-e-2007-1-siyasi-parti-kapatma-k-2009-4-sayili-karari-5874.htm>..>Google Scholar
Beland, Daniel, and Lecours, Andres. “Sub-State Nationalism and the Welfare State: Quebec and Canadian Federalism.” Nations and Nationalism 12.1 (January 2006): 77–96. Print.Google Scholar
Bila, Fikret. Komutanlar Cephesi [The Commanders’ Front]. İstanbul: Detay Yayıncılık, 2007. Print.Google Scholar
Birch, Anthony H. Nationalism and National Integration. London: Unwin Hyman, 1989. Print.Google Scholar
Bozarslan, Hamit. “Why the Armed Struggle? Understanding the Violence in Kurdistan of Turkey.” The Kurdish Conflict in Turkey. Ed. Gürbey, Gülistan and Ibrahim, Ferhad. New York: St.Martin's, 2000: 17–30. Print.Google Scholar
Breuilly, John. Nationalism and the State. 2nd ed. Manchester: Manchester UP, 1993. Print.Google Scholar
Bureau of the Congress. “Local Democracy in Turkey. Situation in Sur/Diyarbakir (South-East Anatolia, Turkey). Report of the Congress Fact-Finding Mission to Turkey (8–10 August 2007).” Strasburg: Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, 2007. Web. 7 Jan. 2012.Google Scholar
Çarkoğlu, Ali, and Kalaycıoğlu, Ersin. Seçim 2007: Devam Eden Eğilimler mi? Yoksa Yeni Başlangıçlar mı? [Elections 2007: Continuing Trends or New Beginnings?]. İstanbul: Açık Toplum Enstitüsü – Sabancı Üniversitesi, 2007. Print.Google Scholar
Catt, Helen, and Murphy, Michael. Sub-State Nationalism: A Comparative Analysis of Institutional Design. Oxford: Routledge, 2002. Print.Google Scholar
Cizre, Ümit. “Introduction – The Justice and Development Party: Making of Choices, Revisions and Reversals Interactively.” Secular and Islamic Politics in Turkey. Ed. Cizre, Ümit. London: Routledge, 2008. Print.Google Scholar
Cornell, Svante. “The Kurdish Question in Turkish Politics.” Orbis 45.1 (Winter 2001): 31–46. Print.Google Scholar
Csergo, Zsuzsa, and Goldgeier, James. “Nationalist Strategies and European Integration.” Perspectives on Politics 2.1 (April 2004): 21–37. Print.Google Scholar
De Winter, Lieven. “Conclusion: A Comparative Analysis of Electoral, Office, and Policy Success of Ethnoregionalist Parties.” Regionalist Parties in Western Europe. Eds. Winter, Lieven De and Türsan, Huri. London: Routledge, 1998. Print.Google Scholar
“Diyarbakır'da tartışmalı harita!” CNN Türk, 1 June 2009. Web. 7 Jan. 2012. <http://www.cnnturk.com/2009/turkiye/05/31/diyarbakirda.tartismali.harita/528912.0/index.html>..>Google Scholar
DTP (Demokratik Toplum Partisi). 2nd Extraordinary Congress Final Declaration. Ankara November 2007. Print.Google Scholar
DTP (Demokratik Toplum Partisi). Democratic Society Party's Project of Democratic Solution to the Kurdish Question. Ankara. September 2008. Print.Google Scholar
DTP (Demokratik Toplum Partisi). Party Program. Ankara, 2005. Print.Google Scholar
“DTP'de Nurettin Demirtaş genel başkan.” NTVMSNBC, 9 Nov 2007. Web. 7 Jan. 2012. <http://arsiv.ntvmsnbc.com/news/425637.asp>..>Google Scholar
“DTP'nin nevruzunda Kürdistan haritası skandalı.” Zaman Gündem, 21 Mar. 2008. Web. 7 Jan. 2012. <http://www.zaman.com.tr/haber.do?haberno=667543&title=dtpnin-nevruzunda-kurdistan-haritasi-skandali>..>Google Scholar
Eccarius-Kelly, Vera. “Political Movements and Leverage Points: Kurdish Activism in the European Diaspora.” Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs 22.1 (2005): 91–118. Print.Google Scholar
EU Commission Progress Reports on Turkey 1998, 2005. Print.Google Scholar
“EU report: DTP is connected to PKK ‘in a way'.” World Bulletin, 6 Aug. 2007. Web. 7 Jan. 2012. <http://www.worldbulletin.net/news_detail.php?id=8226>..>Google Scholar
Guibernau, Montserrat. Nations without States: Political Communities in a Global Age. Oxford: Polity, 1999. Print.Google Scholar
Gürbey, Gülistan, and Ibrahim, Ferhad. “Introduction.” The Kurdish Conflict in Turkey. Ed. Gürbey, Gülistan and Ibrahim, Ferhad. New York: St. Martin's, 1999. Print.Google Scholar
Hak ve Özgürlük Partisi. Web. 7 Jan. 2012. <http://www.hakpar.org.tr>..>Google Scholar
Hirschler, Konrad. “Defining the Nation: Kurdish Historiography in Turkey in the 1990s.” Middle Eastern Studies 37.3 (July 2001): 145–66. Print.Google Scholar
Hooghe, Liesbet. “Nationalist Movements and Social Factors: A Theoretical Perspective.” The Social Origins of Nationalist Movements: The Contemporary West European Experience. Ed. Coakley, John. W. London: Sage, 1992. Print.Google Scholar
Institut kurde de Paris. “What do the Kurds Want in Turkey?” 8 Dec. 2004. Web. 7 Jan. 2012. <http://www.institutkurde.org/activites_culturelles/appels/what_do_the_kurds_want_in_turkey/>..>Google Scholar
Jackson Preece, Jennifer. National Minorities and the European Nation-States System. Oxford: Clarendon, 1998. Print.Google Scholar
Kadep Katilimci Demokrasi Partisi. Web. 7 Jan 2012. <http://www.kadep.org.tr>..>Google Scholar
Keyman, Fuat E. Türkiye'nin İyi Yönetimi, Demokratikleşme ve Özgürlükçü Sol Alternatif [Good Governance for Turkey, Democratization and Libertarian Left Alternative]. İstanbul: İstanbul Bilgi U Yayınları, 2008. Print.Google Scholar
Kirişci, Kemal. “The Kurdish Issue in Turkey: Limits of European Union Reform.” South European Society and Politics 16.2 (2011): 335–49. Print.Google Scholar
Kitschelt, Herbert. “Movement Parties.” Handbook of Party Politics. Eds. Katz, R.S. and Crotty, W. London: Sage, 2006. Print.Google Scholar
Lecours, Andre. 2007. Basque Nationalism and the Spanish State. Reno: U of Nevada P. Print.Google Scholar
Mann, Michael. “Nation-states in Europe and Other Continents: Diversifying, Developing, Not Dying.” Daedalus 122.3 (1993): 115–40. Print.Google Scholar
McAdam, Doug, et al. “Introduction: Opportunities, Mobilizing Structures, and Framing Processes – toward a Synthetic, Comparative Perspective on Social Movements.” Comparative Perspectives on Social Movements. Eds. McAdam, Doug, McCarthy, John D., and Zald, Mayer N. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1996. Print.Google Scholar
McDowall, David. A Modern History of the Kurds. 3rd ed. London: Tauris, 2004. Print.Google Scholar
Newman, Saul. “Does Modernization Breed Ethnic Conflict?” World Politics 43.3 (April 1991): 451–78. Print.Google Scholar
Oran, Baskin. Türkiye'de Azınlıklar. İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 2004. Print.Google Scholar
Özcan, Ali Kemal. Turkey's Kurds: A Theoretical Analysis of the PKK and Abdullah Öcalan. Oxon: Routledge, 2006. Print.Google Scholar
“Parka Kürdistan Havuzu Yaptırdı.” Aktif Haber, 24 Feb. 2007. Web. 7 Jan. 2012. <http://www.aktifhaber.com/parka-kurdistan-havuzu-yaptirdi-103381h.htm>..>Google Scholar
Phillips, Alan. The Framework Convention for the Protection of Minority Rights: A Policy Analysis. Policy paper. Minority Rights Group International, 2002. Web. 3 Jan. 2012.Google Scholar
“‘PKK ile bağınızı koparmalısınız’.” Milliyet, 6 April 2005. Web. 7 Jan. 2012. <http://www.milliyet.com/2005/04/06/yazar/idiz.html>..>Google Scholar
“Possible Solution for Kurdish Question Suits EU Accession Process.” Bianet, 1 July 2010. Web. 7 Jan. 2012. <http://bianet.org/english/local-goverment/123087-possible-solution-for-kurdish-question-suits-eu-accession-process>..>Google Scholar
“Pro-Kurdish politics unite under Zana's DTH.” Hurriyet Daily News, 18 Aug. 2005. Web. 7 Jan. 2012. <http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/h.php?news=pro-kurdish-politics-unite-under-zanas-dth-2005-08-18>..>Google Scholar
Sarıgil, Zeki. “Endogenizing Institutions.” Ph.D. thesis, U of Pittsburgh, 2007. Print.Google Scholar
Saylan, İbrahim. “Sub-State Nationalism within European Integration Process: A Comparative Study of Basque, Scottish and Kurdish Cases.” Ph.D. thesis, Bilkent U, Ankara, Turkey, 2011. Print.Google Scholar
Somer, Murat, and Liaras, Evangelos. “Turkey's New Kurdish Opening: Religious versus Secular Values.” Middle East Policy 17.2 (2010): 152–65. Print.Google Scholar
Suny, Ronald Grigor. “Globalization and the Nation-State.” Paper presented at ASEN Conference on Nationalism and Globalization, London, 31 March-2 April 2009. Paper presentation.Google Scholar
Tarrow, Sidney G. Power in Movement: Social Movements and Contentious Politics. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1998. Print.Google Scholar
Tocci, Nathalie. “Europeanization in Turkey: Trigger or Anchor for Reform?” South European Society and Politics 10.1 (April 2005): 73–83. Print.Google Scholar
Tocci, Nathalie. “The Europeanization of Turkey's Kurdish Question.” Turkey and the European Union. Ed. Joseph, Joseph S. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. Print.Google Scholar
Ulusoy, Kıvanç. “The Challenge to Europeanization to Turkish Politics and Political Structure.” CES Working Papers, No. 1. Middle East Technical University, Ankara, 2007. Print.Google Scholar
van Houten, Pieter. “Regional Assertiveness in Western Europe: A Statistical Exploration.” Paper presented at ECPR Joint Sessions, Center and Peripheries in a Changing World, Grenoble, 6–11 April 2001. Print. Paper presentation.Google Scholar
Yavuz, Hakan M., and Günter, Michael. “The Kurdish Nation.” Current History 100. 642 (Jan 2001): 33–39. Print.Google Scholar