This dissertation examines the origins and development of ethno-national mobilisation amongst the Kurds of the Ottoman Empire in the decades leading up to the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. It argues that, like other elements of Ottoman community, over the course of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century the idea that the Kurds constituted a 'nation' gradually proliferated amongst Kurdish intellectual and political leaders. This nascent 'national consciousness' found concrete expression in the establishment of a series of newspapers, journals and organisations claiming to represent the views and interests of the Ottoman Kurdish community. However, while a growing number of Kurds began to see themselves as part of a 'Kurdish nation', the political implications of Kurdish 'nationhood' remained controversial. Indeed, from its inception the Kurdish movement contained within it a number of factions which held very different opinions on what precisely constituted the Kurds' national interests. This included some who attempted to secure the advancement and development of their people within the framework of the empire (accommodationists) and others who sought national independence (separatists). This study seeks to highlight the diversity within the Kurdish movement and, more importantly, shed light on the reasons behind it. In doing so, it will become possible to create a more nuanced historical narrative of the origins and nature of the Kurdish question, a question which remained a major political issue facing Middle Eastern leaders and statesmen today.

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In “Money Talks: Turkey, The Kurdish Regional Government, and the Shaping of a Future Kurdish State”, I aim to explore the puzzle of why Turkey is establishing economic and diplomatic relations with the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) considering its violent conflict with its Kurdish population. I was able to solve this puzzle by collecting and analyzing various works of literature surrounding Turkish foreign policy towards the KRG. Through my research, I learned about the complex and nuanced partnership between the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) and Ankara, and the potential effect this partnership will have on Kurdish statehood. This issue is important because it highlights a controversial debate surrounding minority groups’ right to statehood in the Middle East and points to shifting economic and political dynamics in the Middle East.

The left-wing Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) began its violent insurgency campaign against the Turkish state in 1984, claiming that an independent Kurdistan should exist. However, the origins of this conflict can be traced back even further – to the inception of the Turkish Republic in 1923. This thesis begins by investigating the history of how the conflict between the Kurdish and Turkish political frameworks escalated, exploring the concept of “Turkishness” as an element of a homogeneous nation-state. The paper then assesses the effects of a range of exclusionary measures adopted by the Turkish state (beyond punitive military responses in southeastern Turkey and cultural discrimination policies). Ultimately, I argue that the ruling Justice and Development Party’s recent push for a more authoritarian style of leadership under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has ostracized the Kurdish population and has created a climate for Kurdish terrorist organizations, such as the PKK and TAK, to prosper and expand recruitment.

Through an analysis of the Iraq’s engineered genocides against Kurds during the years of Saddam Hussein’s regime, this work aimed to reveal the weakness of the current political and social situation in Iraq. The purpose was to offer an overview of the dangers posed by the current difficult coexistence between the Federal Government in Baghdad and the Kurdish Regional Government in Erbil. The birth of a new political system after the fall of Saddam's regime meant that every institutional power had to be built from scratch in a political and social reality new to most Iraqis. This process of renovation, already witnessed in Europe after World War II, in particular in Italy and Germany, implied the writing of a new constitution and of a new set of legal frames with the purpose to give the country a strong and reliable democratic base. In the case of Iraqi Kurds, who suffered discrimination, death and, ultimately genocide, it is important to revisit their recent past in order to feel they are an integral part of the new country born after the last Gulf War in 2003. Despite the international interest in the Kurdish case, Kurdish people did not have the opportunity to see the ones responsible of the crimes committed against them brought to international justice, as happened in the past in the case of Rwanda and Bosnia. The execution of Saddam Hussein in 2006 meant that the charges against him and his commanders related to the Kurdish case were not discussed in court preventing Kurdish people not only from obtaining the justice they were entitled to but, most importantly, from gaining access to the truth about the massacres and human rights abuses carried out by Saddam's regime between 1963 and 2003. Through an analysis of the Iraq’s engineered genocides against Kurds during the years of Saddam Hussein’s regime, this work aimed to reveal the weakness of the current political and social situation in Iraq. The purpose was to offer an overview of the dangers posed by the current difficult coexistence between the Federal Government in Baghdad and the Kurdish Regional Government in Erbil. The birth of a new political system after the fall of Saddam's regime meant that every institutional power had to be built from scratch in a political and social reality new to most Iraqis. This process of renovation, already witnessed in Europe after World War II, in particular in Italy and Germany, implied the writing of a new constitution and of a new set of legal frames with the purpose to give the country a strong and reliable democratic base. In the case of Iraqi Kurds, who suffered discrimination, death and, ultimately genocide, it is important to revisit their recent past in order to feel they are an integral part of the new country born after the last Gulf War in 2003. Despite the international interest in the Kurdish case, Kurdish people did not have the opportunity to see the ones responsible of the crimes committed against them brought to international justice, as happened in the past in the case of Rwanda and Bosnia. The execution of Saddam Hussein in 2006 meant that the charges against him and his commanders related to the Kurdish case were not discussed in court preventing Kurdish people not only from obtaining the justice they were entitled to but, most importantly, from gaining access to the truth about the massacres and human rights abuses carried out by Saddam's regime between 1963 and 2003.

This Final Thesis is concerning the question of Kurdish minority which is currently dwelling in the Turkish state. I tried to make a clear picture about historical development of both nations, Turkish and Kurdish. The main hypothesis should reveal whether prevail the effort of Kurdish people to reconstruct own state -- new Kurdistan or whether are they attempting to obtain autonomy of Turkish government on the present. One part of this Thesis covers the interrelations in between those two groups of nations.

La déportation des Kurdes de 1836 à 1876 à l’époque l’Empire ottomanLa présente thèse a pour but de traiter l’ensemble des implications relatives au déclin de l’Empire ottoman et les efforts que la Porte a tenté pour s’en sortir. Nous étudierons les multiples facteurs de la centralisation et de la transformation de l’administration de l’Empire du XIXe siècle et après la déclaration du Tanzimat et le changement de politique vis-à-vis des Kurdes. Nous analyserons le statut des Emirs kurdes dans l’administration jusqu’à la politique de centralisation, et la politique de déportation et de sédantarisation des tribus kurdes y compris les Emirs Kurdes au début du XIXe siècle.L’autonomie des Emirs kurdes commença à disparaitre au début du XIXe siècle. La Porte souhaitait mettre fin à l’autonomie des Emirs qu’elle voulait soumettre à l’autorité du Sultan pour leur faire payer des impôts, y compris en soldats pour l’armée ottomane. Afin de les faire plier, Reşid Pacha fut nommé en 1833 et Hafiz Pacha lui succéda immédiatement après sa mort en 1836. Ce dernier réussira à battre Bedirkhan Bey en 1847 ce qui aboutira à l’abolition de l’autonomie des Emirs kurdes en tant que Hükümet, yurtluk-ocaklık et ocaklık, entrainant la deuxième conquête du Kurdistan par la Porte et sa reconnaissance en tant que province ottomane en 1847. La création de la province du Kurdistan en 1847 fut suivie de trois grands changements politiques de l’administration; la loi foncière en 1858, la régulation du statut des villes en 1864 et pour finir en 1867 à l’abolition de la province du Kurdistan. Tous ces changements au sein de l’Empire permirent de centraliser l’Etat.La déportation des Kurdes du XIXe siècle avait un aspect différent des précédentes. À partir de cette époque, la politique de déportation tournait autour de quatre grands axes : tout d’abord : la déportation pour sédentariser les tribus nomades kurdes dans le but de prélever des impôts, deuxièmement : la déportation pour diviser et contrôler les Emirs ou Bey kurdes, troisièmement : la déportation des kurdes pour imposer l’ordre et installer la sécurité au Kurdistan et finalement : la déportation des kurdes pour les civiliser et les assimiler. C’est grâce à l’étude de nombreuses sources manuscrites ottomanes du XIXe siècle ainsi que des sources secondaires en turc, français ou anglais concernant la période que nous avons pu mettre en avant ce qui a généré la disparation de l’autonomie des Emirs kurdes et leur déportation au sein de l’Empire à partir du XIXe siècle. / The deportation of the Kurds from 1836 to 1876 at the time the Ottoman EmpireThe purpose of this thesis is to deal with all the implications of the decline of the Ottoman Empire and the efforts made by the Porte to get by. We will study the multiple factors of the centralization and transformation of the administration of the Empire of the nineteenth century and after the declaration of the Tanzimat, the change of policy regarding the Kurds. We shall analyze the position of the Kurdish Emirs in the administration until the policy of centralization and the policy of deportation and sedation of the Kurdish tribes, including the Emirs in the early nineteenth century.The autonomy of the Kurdish Emirs began to disappear at the beginning of the 19th century. The Porte wanted to put an end to the autonomy of the Emirs in order to submit to the authority of the Sultan to make them pay taxes, including by giving soldiers to the Ottoman army. In order to make them fold, Reşid Pacha was appointed in 1833 and Hafiz Pacha succeeded him immediately after his death in 1836. The latter succeeded in defeating Bedirkhan Bey in 1847 which lead to the abolition of the autonomy of the Kurdish Emirs as Hükümet, yurtluk-ocaklık and ocaklık, bringing about the second conquest of Kurdistan through the Porte and its recognition as an Ottoman province in 1847. The creation of the province of Kurdistan in 1847 was followed by three major political changes in the administration; the land law in 1858, the regulation of the status of cities in 1864, and finally, in 1867, the abolition of the province of Kurdistan. All these changes within the Empire made possible to centralize the State.The deportation of the Kurds of the nineteenth century had a different aspect from the preceding one. From then on, the policy of deportation revolved around four major axes: first, deportation to settle the nomadic Kurdish tribes for the purpose of levying taxes; secondly, deportation to divide and control the Emirs or Bey Kurds, thirdly: the deportation of the Kurds to impose order and install security in Kurdistan and Finally: the deportation of the Kurds to civilize and assimilate them.It is thanks to the study of numerous Ottoman manuscript sources of the nineteenth century as well as secondary sources in Turkish, French or English concerning the period that we were able to highlight what has generated the disruption of the autonomy of the Kurdish Emirs and their deportation within the Empire from the nineteenth century onwards.

Islam and Competing Nationalisms: The Kurds and the Turks in the late Ottoman Era is a work, which traces how religion was intimately intertwined with nationalism during the crucial period of the late nineteenth century in the Modern Middle East. In this approach, I call into question the extent to which the principle of secularism and ethnicity serve as the only foundations of the modern nation state. Within the context of the late Ottoman Empire, my research foregrounds the differences between interpretations of Islam at the center and the myriad understandings of Islam adopted by those on the margins. I demonstrate how diverse Muslim communities (Arabs, Kurds and Turks) have linked their interpretations of 'authentic' religion to claims of 'ethnic superiority' during the process of nation building. I contend that this tension between the normative State interpretation of Islam and alternative visions was critical in shaping modern nationalism in the Middle East. This is significant for establishing how nationalism can in turn affect the range of religious interpretations. My work thus provides a new historically grounded theoretical foundation for recent debates on nationalism that have emerged in recent decades. My dissertation is based on a close examination of British archival records, Ottoman state records, Ottoman journals and other primary sources in Arabic, Kurdish (both Kurmanci and Sorani dialects), Persian and modern Turkish -- most of which I obtained during my yearlong field research as a Fulbright scholar.

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