This study examines the perceptions and operational assumptions of university representatives with regard to the new higher education policy-making in Kurdistan. It attempts to explore the development and implementation of the policy’s first priority, the aim to bridge the gap between quality and quantity in higher education. A mixed-methods case study research is employed by applying qualitative methods in a series of interviews carried out with nine faculty members from a University in the Kurdistan Region. The interviews were followed by a survey of a representative sample of 305 faculty members from all faculties of the university, with responses from 148. Both research methods explored the implementation of quality assurance initiatives under the quality teaching reforms. The aim is to identify what type of quality culture in higher education is being encouraged and if it will enable higher education to serve as a bridge for Kurdistan to the global knowledge economy.

This study examines the perceptions and operational assumptions of university representatives with regard to the new higher education policy-making in Kurdistan. It attempts to explore the development and implementation of the policy’s first priority, the aim to bridge the gap between quality and quantity in higher education. A mixed-methods case study research is employed by applying qualitative methods in a series of interviews carried out with nine faculty members from a University in the Kurdistan Region. The interviews were followed by a survey of a representative sample of 305 faculty members from all faculties of the university, with responses from 148. Both research methods explored the implementation of quality assurance initiatives under the quality teaching reforms. The aim is to identify what type of quality culture in higher education is being encouraged and if it will enable higher education to serve as a bridge for Kurdistan to the global knowledge economy.

This thesis concerns the differences in how ethinic groups co-exist in two different environments in the same country, with a focus on the ethno-political. My research questions are: Why are ethnic or interpersonal relations characterized differently in different regions? How and why do conflicts or agreements arise in specific environments? The aim is to understand the connection between inter-ethnic relations and environmentally specific factors. I am concerned with those mechanisms and processes which determine the type of ethnic relation – as conflict or mutual understanding - in specific environments. The thesis uses case studies of two contrasting multiethnic cities with different interethnic relations – Erbil and Kirkuk in Kurdistan/Iraq. My explanatory model consists of four main factors: I) historical factors in terms of critical events; II) institutional factors such as institutional efficiency and security; III) structural factors such as group size, territorial base and different tolerance systems; and IV) social relational factors such as the significance of inter-ethnic contacts and social capital. The empirical work demonstrates that the relations between the above mentioned factors in the respective environments determine the outcome of the inter-ethnic relations. The results show that one factor can be more important than another factor, but how the factors impact upon one another and under what circumstances is of significance. The presentation of environmentally specific differences shows that ethnic groups do not have static boundaries and are not necessarily hostile to one another. Conflict is not the given form of relationship between ethnic groups. That is, the result can be read as a critique of those who necessarily see potential conflicts between groups with cultural differences and those who essentialize cultural groups. In this context one can see a chain of interrelated factors; the relevance of which is dependent on the specific situation. Some of the negative factors that can increase the possibility of conflict and decrease the possibility for peaceful co-existence include: Instability in the political climate; insecurity; institutional ineffectiveness; segregation; undefined relations of power; and an ethnic composition maintaining the balance of power. If these factors combined result in a high level of complexity, which makes ethnicity stand out in terms of ethnic competition, the likelihood of ethnic conflict is significant.

This thesis examines how the ‘terrorist’ label affects those that are labelled by this designation, particularly with reference on a subsequent choice to use violence in the context of an ethno-nationalist conflict. Drawing on the PKK as a case study, the study asks: what effect did the labelling of the PKK as a ‘terrorist organisation’ by the Turkish government have on the use of violence by Kurds in the Turkish-Kurdish ethno-nationalist conflict? The invocation of the label terrorist in any conflict often means both the labeller and the labelled are predisposed to use violence. This study argues that this process of labelling leads the labeller and the labelled to frame one another as an existential threat. To date, the effects of using the label ‘terrorist’ in an ethno-nationalist conflict context remain relatively understudied in both social and political sciences. The period under analysis extends from 1992 to 2015, corresponding to the period during which the Turkish government continuously designated the PKK as ‘terrorist’. In conflict discourse, belligerents use demeaning labels against each other to gather support, legitimacy or simply to increase combatants’ morale. The study argues that the label terrorist is a constituent element of the conflict. The Turkish government uses the label terrorist as a tool to securitise the Kurdish-Turkish ethno-nationalist conflict. The Turkish government’s labelling of the PKK as ‘terrorist’ places the Kurdish issue in the broader framework of securitisation, a theory in International Relations. While securitising the Kurdish issue has bestowed more powers to the Turkish government to combat violence described as ‘terrorist’, the resolution of the ethno-nationalist conflict became increasingly more complex leading to protracted waves of violence. Analysing data collected through semi-structured qualitative interviews with Kurds from Turkey, the study reveals that the impact of the label terrorist is far more complex than previously assumed in the existing academic literature. The specific effects of the label terrorist on any given conflict, however, are the subject of an empirical question to be settled through rigorous research. Drawing on the Labelling Theory of Deviance fathered by Howard S. Becker and complemented by discourse analysis, this study finds that the application of the label terrorist against the PKK increases the perception of victimization among its wider Kurdish community. Secondly, the research demonstrates that the invocation of the label terrorist against the PKK places the group’s actors and sympathizers in a situation that makes it harder for them to engage in peaceful means of resolving the conflict. The interplay between these two consequential effects of victimisation and political exclusion leads to the conclusion that there is an indirect relationship between designating an ethno-nationalist armed group ‘terrorist’ and the choice to use violence.