This study deals with the question of what governmental policies and military methods
were adopted in the 1990s in order to overcome the PKK (Partiya Karkaren Kurdistan, or
Workers Party of Kurdistan) that was regarded mainly as a terrorist organization against
national security for it challenged Turkish state establishment via its ethno-political
discourse. Based on this question, this thesis analyses each government&rsquo / s approach and
counterinsurgency policies as well as Turkish military&rsquo / s tactics and operations in order to
curb the PKK threat that complicated the Turkey&rsquo / s Kurdish question, and challenged
Turkish state from three directions / namely southeast Turkey, northern Iraq, and Western
Europe. Therefore, the thesis evaluates the PKK&rsquo / s armed and political activities / anti-terror
measures in the southeast region and throughout Turkey / the social, political, and economic
impact of these measures over the southeastern population / human-rights violations / each
government&rsquo / s southeastern policies / the impact of the counterinsurgency policies on
Turkey&rsquo / s foreign relations, particularly with Iraq, Syria, and the European Union. Although
the anti-PKK policies during each governmental period did not differentiate much from
each other, the aim is to show that Turkish civilian authorities failed to take the initiative
on, and the military-dominated approach aggravated the social and political circumstances
in the region, hence, strengthened the PKK&rsquo / s anti-state discourse that led to the rise of
Kurdish nationalism.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:METU/oai:etd.lib.metu.edu.tr:http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12611438/index.pdf |
| Date | 01 December 2009 |
| Creators | Ay Hamdan, Zuhal |
| Contributors | Bolukbasioglu, Suha |
| Publisher | METU |
| Source Sets | Middle East Technical Univ. |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | M.S. Thesis |
| Format | text/pdf |
| Rights | To liberate the content for public access |
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