This dissertation analyzes the context and discourse the Kurdish ethno-nationalism have emerged in modern Turkey. In a critical survey of a selected Kurdish nationalist theories, it tries to analyze the historical and contextual trajectory the nationalist discourse have assumed vis-&agrave / -vis Turkish modernity. A particular emphasis is given on how and on what basis Kurdish nationalism has questioned the formation and the sources of the legitimacy of the Turkish state and its role in the making of Turkish modernity. Kurdish nationalism, in doing so, defined and instrumentally utilized ethnicity, along with other aspects of cohesion such as Islam, socialism and traditional tribal solidarity since the 1920s. This study argues that modern Kurdish nationalist movement emerged by divorcing itself from the Turkish left in the 1960s. It proliferated in the 1970s and spiraled down to separatist violence in the 1980s. Violence has dominated and synchronized Kurdish nationalist discourse in the 1990s. It sought for international recognition and independent sovereignty by targeting the legitimacy of the Turkish state. The Kurdish nationalist movement moved along, in discourse and practice, around the issues related to the Turkish state, which has evolved with the changing and diversified context of international rights.

This thesis explores a new political phenomenon in the Middle East - the reconciliation of nationalism and Islamism by Islamic political parties in the context of nation states. Although the concept of religious nationalism has been discussed substantially before, as for example in Juergensmeyer (1993: 40) where the author defines religious nationalism as “the attempt to link religion and the nation-state”, this work highlights that a new brand of religious nationalism has emerged in the Middle East as the result of the intertwining of nationalism and Islamism. The focus of this study is, therefore, on the development of religious nationalism in the continuously tumultuous region of the Middle East. The aim of this researchis to investigate whether Islamism in Kurdistan is limited by the politics of nationalism, which is an accentuated example for the whole Middle East region. Furthermore, it should be noted that many of the religious nationalists themselves have not yet fully acknowledged the existence of the trend of merging between Islamism and nationalism. For instance, although the position of the Muslim Brotherhood of Kuwait, during the liberation of their state from the Iraqi regime, is a clear example of religious nationalism, all other affiliations of this organisation around the world at that time viewed the military operation as a foreign occupation. Highlighting this historical juncture in the political life of the Middle East by studying the Islamism in the Kurdistan region helped to elaborate on this new type of politics exceptionally well. This is essentially due to the absence of a politically recognised nation state which renders Kurds to be particularly susceptible to various manifestations of nationalism. The key finding of this project was, therefore, the notion that Islamism in Kurdistan has become significantly framed by the politics of nationalism.

In 1991, following its defeat in the Second Gulf War and as a response to the international humanitarian protectionist umbrella provided to the three Kurdish-population governorates in Northern Iraq, the Government of Iraq (GOI) under Saddam Hussein centrally seceded from the area. The vacuum that ensued was soon filled by the leadership of the Iraqi Kurdistan Front (KNA) and soon a de facto state resurrected from the ashes of destruction besieging Iraqi Kurdistan for many decades. Hence, the precarious existence of what came to be known as the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) in a highly challenging geopolitical environment and the strategic imperative of preserving the de facto independence of the entity forced the Kurdish leadership to give high priority to building foreign relations and pursuit of foreign policy. Foreign policy as a political activity is of paramount importance to all actors including sovereign states to preserve and promote their national interests. The practice of foreign policy, however, is particularly acute for de facto states. As internationally non-recognized entities, the international system of sovereign states is often skeptical if not hostile to engage in foreign relations with de facto states. Yet, projection of foreign policy and building foreign relations is extremely vital for the continued survival and consolidation of de facto states. By exploring the case of the KRI as a case of de facto statehood, this research argues that, mutatis mutandis, de facto states can pursue independent foreign policies. By identifying major transitions in the KRI, this thesis seeks to better explain foreign policy determinants, objectives and instruments of implementation of foreign policies of the KRI. In doing so, this thesis further seeks to contribute to the analysis of de facto statehood in general, and to contribute to the study of the KRI as the case of de facto statehood in the Middle East region.

abstract: ABSTRACT This study examines the language and literacy experiences of Kurdish minority children during their first year of mainstream schooling in a southeastern village in Turkey. I employed ethnographic research methods (participant observation, multi-modal data collection, interviewing, and focus groups) to investigate the language practices of the children in relation to language ideologies circulating in the wider context. I focused on the perspectives and practices of one 1st grade classroom (14 students) but also talked with seven parents, three teachers, and two administrators. A careful analysis of the data collected shows that there is a hierarchy among languages used in the community—Turkish, English, and Kurdish. The children, their parents, and their teachers all valued Turkish and English more than Kurdish. While explaining some of their reasons for this view, they discussed the status and functions of each language in society with an emphasis on their functions. My analysis also shows that, although participants devalue the Kurdish language, they still value Kurdish as a tie to their ethnic roots. Another key finding of this study is that policies that appear in teachers’ practices and the school environment seemed to be robust mediators of the language beliefs and practices of the Kurds who participated in my study. School is believed to provide opportunities for learning languages in ways that facilitate greater participation in society and increased access to prestigious jobs for Kurdish children who do not want to live in the village long-term. Related to that, one finding demonstrates that current circumstances make language choice like a life choice for Kurdish children. While Kurds who choose Turkish are often successful in school (and therefore have access to better jobs), the ones who maintain their Kurdish usually have only animal breeding or farming as employment options. I also found that although the Kurdish children that I observed subscribed to ideologies that valued Turkish and English over their native language, they did not entirely abandon their Kurdish language. Instead, they were involved in Turkish- Kurdish bilingual practices such as language broking, language sharing, and language crossing. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Curriculum and Instruction 2015

By utilizing Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) methodology, this study explores the ideological function of language in the Kurdish journalistic discourse of the pre-WWI period (1898-1914). Informed by the CDA approach, the present study perceives language as a social practice that produces meanings and presumes a dialectical relationship between language and ideology in the construction of social realities, beliefs and identities. Hence, this study is situated within the wider scope of discourse analysis that focuses on the link between identity, discourse, power and ideology. The study particularly utilizes, in an eclectic manner, the CDA conceptual frameworks developed by Norman Fairclough and Ruth Wodak in order to examine and explain the ideological function of the Kurdish journalistic discourse in the formation of Kurdish national identity from the prespective of a linguistically informed discursive study. To this end, from the perspective of CDA approach, the study methodically and analytically conducts an exhaustive close textual examination of numerous discourse samples taken from the corpora of three Kurdish journals of the late Ottoman period, i.e., Kurdistan (1898-1902), Kürd Teavün ve Terakki Gazetesi (The Kurdish Gazette for Mutual Aid and Progress) (1908-1909) and Rojî Kurd (Kurdish Sun) (1913). Given that the historical circumstance have a tremendous effect on the formation of discourses, this study investigates discourse practices and language devices employed in the Kurdish journals by taking into consideration the distinctive sociocultural and political conditions in which each journal was published. The study concludes that contrary to the common misperception in the literature, the Kurdish press of the late Ottoman period served as a platform on which Kurdish intellectuals negotiated, constructed and disseminated a distinctive form of Kurdish national identity and nationalism in their discourse despite –sometimes at the expense of- the hegemonic Ottoman and Pan-Islamic identities. However, although the Kurdish journalistic discourse managed to produce a Kurdish nationalist discourse among the Kurdish intellectuals and a small segment of Kurdish reading public, it failed to imitate the Andersonian notion of ‘imagined communities’ as the ‘cultural products’ of ‘print-capitalism’ that would immensely contributed to the formation of a unified field of communication around a national print-language. As a result the Kurdish identity discourse remained inconsequential in terms of making an impact among a larger Kurdish public that would ultimately lead to the construction of a braoder imagined Kurdish national community. The present study attributes the limited power and influence of the Kurdish journals or the Kurdish printing-press on Kurdish masses to the unfavourable historical circumstances, including the novelty of the newspaper genre, the low literacy rate in Kurdistan, the state-imposed restrictions on the production and dissemination of the journals, the personal and familial concerns and interests of the Kurdish leadership of the period and the lingering effects of both parochial (tribal, linguistic, sectarian, regional) and meta-loyalties (Islamism, Ottomanism) among Kurds in the era of nationalism.

Ce travail, mis à part l'introduction et la conclusion, est composé de deux parties, ainsi que de trois annexes et une bibliographie. Dans la première partie, nous parlons du Cadre théorique et de contextualisation philo-sociohistorique. Pour cela, ici nous donnons la définition de concepts comme "l'intellectuel" et le "rôle", car il est important de faire une description de ces concepts avant de les aborder dans le coeur de notre sujet et d'étudier leur place dans la société kurde. Ensuite, nous parlons de la situation des intellectuels et de leur influence dans la société kurde. Comme tous les intellectuels n'ont pas les mêmes attitudes selon leur appartenance sociale ou idéologique, nous avons préféré les différencier selon différents types en les mettant dans les différentes catégories, cela nous permet de mieux comprendre leur influence dans la transformation sociopolitique de la société kurde. Première catégorie : le rôle des intellectuels après les deux grandes guerres mondiales (la Première et la Seconde guerres mondiales), dans la deuxième, nous voyons le rôle des intellectuels dans les années soixante. Pour la troisième catégorie : la période de migration des intellectuels kurdes vers l'exil. Quatrième catégorie : la crise et les intellectuels. Cinquième catégorie : les intellectuels kurdes dans une nouvelle situation. / In the Kurdish society, the role of Kurdish intellectuals regarding political and social transformations is crucial. According to the history of the Kurdish society, its nature on its composition, Kurdish intellectuals have their own particularities. Therefore they are to be distinguished from other intellectuals. Somehow, Kurdish intellectuals have always took part to the liberation of Kurdistan. The main part of the work was dedicated to the cultural climate existing in th Kurdish society. Which are the cultural organizations and their role in a Muslim society? How do they work? Which place take media organs, education and higher education in Kurdistan? Do they have any influence on intellectuals? Do unions and juridical bodies have a real function in Kurdistan? Many secondary sources as newspapers, review and survey, specialized or non-specialized journals depending upon the importance of delivered information were used, as well as many websites. Besides, some TV shows were viewed (political meeting and debates with intellectuals). A fieldwork in Kurdistan was undertaken to carry out this work, mainly in the cites of Suleimany and Erbil. For security reasons, the city ok Kirkuk was ruled out. Some temporal constrains did not allow any meeting with intellectuals from Dehuk. Thence, the work is focusing on two cities only. However intellectuals from each categories mentioned above were interviewed.

Thesis advisor: Natana DeLong-Bas / Throughout history, the idea of “hidden wisdom” and “primordial truth” has been a perennial fixture of innovative or heterodox beliefs. Repeatedly, novel methods of thought, be they religious, political, or social, have been introduced as a product of a vaunted time and space: lost secrets of the Persian magi, rediscovered wisdom of Solomon, uncovered Egyptian mysteries, etc. This persistent trope begs examination, and highlights one of the oldest trends in human thought: to find legitimacy in tradition, imagined or otherwise. Furthermore, the literature seems to always point towards a land in the greater Middle East as the font of wisdom - even in the writings of people from the Middle East, who simply attribute works to peoples and lands different from their own. Finally, in more modern times, there is a tendency to lean upon the narrative of a lost past for purposes of cultivating a new national identity, especially by peoples grappling with the overbearing mantle of Arabness or the struggles of a stateless people. Overall, the lost golden ages of the Middle East serve as the ideal wellspring of legitimacy for unorthodox ideas regarding the divine, the state, and the nature of a people. / Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2021. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Middle Eastern Studies.

This thesis examines the role of the media in the Kurdistan Region focusing on developments since the fall of Saddam Hussein¿s regime in 2003 in order to identify the challenges which have faced journalists there, and the construction of national identity and the potential opportunities which this sector presents for shaping public opinion and strengthening the nascent democracy in the region. After tracing the history of the Kurdish media against the broader backdrop of Iraq, using an interdisciplinary approach, this thesis analyses the strengths and weaknesses of the Kurdish media, with particular reference to regulation, examining the Press Law (2008). It concludes with a series of recommendations regarding the growth and development of new opportunities in the Kurdish media. In addition, it will present arguments to support the urgent need to develop a legal and regulatory framework which is fit-for-purpose for the media in this style democracy.

Since 2012, there has been an increase of media attention on the Kurds, particularly women who are active in the YPJ and Peshmerga. Various publications have equated women's militarization with women's liberation. In an effort to more accurately measure this, the following question must be asked; what is the effect of women's military involvement on women's rights? Women that are active in both nationalist movements and traditional state armies are presented with changing gender roles. Post conflict, there is a struggle for women to transfer their newfound autonomy into political activism. The theory outlines a chain in which women participate in the armed forces, feel empowered, are able to obtain positions of influence, and create policy and social change. A break in any point of this chain will block female excombatants from influencing women's rights. The theory is tested on Kurdish women active in the Iraqi Peshmerga and the Women's Protection Units (YPJ) in Syria. Data on women's military participation and their impact on women's rights was gathered from NGO reports, news articles, scholarly journals, and laws that were passed in Iraqi Kurdistan and Northern Syria. The evidence gathered indicates that women's military participation is not the only mechanism for improving women's rights. While the development of gender equality in Northern Syria can be linked to women's militarization, gender equality efforts in Iraqi Kurdistan do not have a direct link to women's involvement in the Peshmerga. This work adds to the ongoing discussion on Kurdish political rights, particularly women's autonomy.

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