Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: On the basis of a joint analytical framework (Panel 1) and a number of research hypotheses this paper analyses the role of civil society in the peacebuilding processes in Turkey?s Kurdish conflict. It aims to study the issues that come into play in the post-conflict environments and different civil society functions within the highly-politicized Kurdish conflict in Turkey. The conflict between the PKK and the Turkish armed forces since 1984 started to de-escalate since the capture of the PKK leader, Abdullah Öcalan and after Turkey?s candidacy to the EU have been accepted in 1999. Since then the Turkish state has passed new legislations to ?democratize? the country while at the same time many civil society organizations tried to deal with different issues in the conflict; especially those that are not addressed by the state. The data for the paper are drawn from the author?s fieldwork in the southeastern Anatolia where the armed conflict take place as well as in Istanbul where many civil society organizations have their headquarters. The research focuses only on the post-conflict stage since civil society efforts have been hindered or were insignificant due to the state regulations. It also studies the civil society efforts to prevent the escalation of conflict. The conclusion part discusses the role of civil society in post-conflict and discusses the nexus between civil society and peacebuilding in highly politicized ethnic conflicts.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper is derived from a case study in Turkey’s southeast, which is predominantly Sunni-Muslim and Kurdish yet includes other religious groups such as Yezidis, Alevis, or Assyrians as well as non-Kurdish people such as Turks and Arabs.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Turkey is home to some 20 to 25 million people of Kurdish origin, or roughly a quarter of its 70 million citizens. The numbers are hotly disputed, as is the question of how "Kurdish" they are. Although the Kurds were present at the nation's founding about

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The paper explores the troubled, often violent relations, between states and prominent minorities and aims to explain the circumstances under which states recognize international norms on minority rights by focusing on two cases: Morocco and Turkey. In October 2001, the Berbers, who form the second largest ethnic group in Morocco after the Arabs, won a major victory in their long struggle for cultural recognition. The Moroccan state, for the first time, declared its recognition of “Berberness” as a principal element of the Moroccan national culture and allowed instruction in Berber language in state primary schools. King Mohammed established ‘the Royal Institute of the Berber Culture’ and charged it with the research and development of Berber language and culture. These initiatives represented a dramatic reversal in the official definition of national identity. Historically, the Moroccan state viewed cultural and linguistic expressions of Berber identity as threatening to national unity and defined ‘Moroccanness” through the Arabic language, culture, and history. Unlike Morocco, the Turkish state’s policy in the face of increasing Kurdish demands for cultural rights did not change much. Although the hope of joining the European Union resulted in major legal reforms for greater political freedoms in Turkey in the 2000s, the Turkish state has been highly reluctant to recognize Kurdish cultural and linguistic demands. Today, although some loosening of the reins has occurred, discussion of the Kurdish question remains a taboo, and legal restrictions against the use of the Kurdish language and expression of Kurdish identity are still in place.

Why have certain states accommodated ethnic groups’ demands and recognized minority rights while others have not? Through a comparison of the Moroccan and Turkish states’ minority policies, my paper explores the conditions under which states feel compelled to respond to the cultural demands of ethnic groups and become inclusive of an ethnic minority within their borders. In this paper I analyze the ethnic movements in these two countries. I call attention to the differences between the two ethnic movements in terms of their strategies and structures and explain how these differences translate into their interaction with the decision-makers. I argue that the pluralist character of the Berber movement allowed the moderate activists to take advantage of the political opportunities at times when the regime showed signs of relaxation and to express their demands in a way that would be acceptable to the Moroccan state. The conciliatory manner in which the Berber activists expressed their demands and the existence of mediators, revered both by activists and official circles, helped increase the credibility of Amazigh activism and played an important role in having the state recognize its cultural demands. At a time when there is increased international pressure for the recognition of cultural demands of the Kurds in Turkey, the Kurdish movement, was already dominated by a hegemonic actor, which turned it into more or less a uniform movement that left no room for conciliation with the state. The Kurdish activists did (could) not show the same willingness to conciliate when channels of negotiation with the official figures opened. The Kurdish activists’ unwillingness to compromise empowered the hardliners within the Turkish state elite, who perceived the cultural demands of the movement as inseparable from its challenge to the legitimacy of the state boundaries.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This paper aims to study the effects of European multilateral organizations (OSCE, Council of Europe and the EU) for bringing positive developments to the Kurdish Question and the return of the internally displaced Kurds in Turkey. The general argument I will be presenting is that Turkey's efforts to join the European community has important positive effects on its policies towards its minorities in general, and the Kurds specifically, as well as its human rights practices starting especially in the turn of the 1990s. The re-evaluation of the Kurdish Question and the reconstruction of Turkish-Kurdish social relations have largely been affected by this process. This analysis targets to provide the reader with theoretical insights on a) how these organizations emerge as important actors in the resolution of ethnic conflicts; and b) how they help re-construct the post-conflict environment in the political, cultural and economic realms by analyzing Turkey as a case study. The research will be based on European Parliament debates, EU Presidency statements, Commission reports, Accession Partnership Agreements, Turkish official statements, National Programme [for the Adoption of the EU Acquis], debates in Turkish Parliament and newspaper commentaries, OSCE documents and website, and the Council Europe's documents and the treaties Turkey has put its signature on.