Turkey’s Mission Impossible. Cengiz Çandar

Turkey’s Mission Impossible

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Turkey’s Mission

Impossible

Kurdish Societies, Politics, and International Relations

Series Editor: Bahar Baser, Coventry University

This series strives to produce high quality academic work on Kurdish society and politics, and the international relations of Kurdish organizations and governments (Kurdistan Region of Iraq) both regionally and globally. The books in this series explore themes of contemporary relevance as well as presenting historical trajectories of the Kurdish populations. The series contributes to the rapidly growing literature on this topic with books that are original and make substantial empirical and theoretical contribution. The series’ main focus are the Kurds and the social, cultural and political environment in which Kurdish issues play out. The subjects that we are interested in include but are not limited to: the history of the Kurds, Kurdish politics and policies within Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and Syria, as well as Kurdish politics and their impact on the international relations of the Middle East. This series also publishes books on the policies of the USA, Europe, and other countries towards Kurdish movements and territories, and interdisciplinary research on Kurdish societies, religions, social movements, and the Kurdish diaspora. Lastly, our aim is to contribute to the academic literature on Kurdish culture, arts, cinema and literature. This series speaks to audiences outside academia, and is not limited to area-studies topics. All books in this series will be peer-reviewed and demonstrate academic quality and rigor.

Titles Published

Customized Forms of Kurdishness in Turkey: State Rhetoric, Locality, and Language Use by Ceren Şengül

Methodological Approaches in Kurdish Studies: Theoretical and Practical Insights from the Field by Bahar Baser, Yasin Duman, Mari Toivanen, and Begum Zorlu

Kurdish Alevis and the Case of Dersim: Historical and Contemporary Insights by Erdal Gezik and Ahmet Kerim Gültekin

The Geopolitics of Turkey–Kurdistan Relations: Cooperation, Security Dilemmas, and Economies by Mustafa Demir

Kurds in Turkey: Ethnographies of Heterogeneous Experiences by Lucie Drechselová and Adnan Çelik

Social Media and Democratization in Irai Kurdistan by Munir Hasan Mohammad

The Kurdish Model of Political Community: A Vision of National Liberation Defiant of the Nation-State by Hanifi Baris

Media and Politics in Kurdistan: How Politics and Media Are Locked in an Embrace by Mohammedali Yaseen Taha

The Kurds in the Middle East: Enduring Problems and New Dynamics edited by Mehmet Gurses, David Romano, and Michael M. Gunter

Turkey’s Mission Impossible: War and Peace with the Kurds by Cengiz Çandar

Turkey’s Mission

Impossible

War and Peace with the Kurds

Cengiz Çandar

Foreword by Eugene Rogan

LEXINGTON BOOKS

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Published by Lexington Books

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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available

ISBN 978-1-4985-8750-1 (cloth: alk. paper)

ISBN 978-1-4985-8751-8 (electronic)

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

To my dear friends and all those Kurds and Turks who suffer and have

suffered, within Turkey’s prisons and without, under injustice and tyranny.

Contents

List of Figures

Foreword by Eugene Rogan

Notes on Spelling and Transliteration

Writing Turkey’s Mission Impossible

Introduction

PART I: INTRACTABLE CONFLICT

1 Historical and Ideological Background

2 Kurdish Uprisings

3 The Longest Kurdish Insurgency