THE materials collected in the ensuing pages are the results of about 7,500 miles
of riding and innumerable conversations with policemen, nluleteers, mullahs,
chieftains, sheep drovers, horse dealers, carriers and other people capable of giving
one first hand information. The results I fear are extreinely meagre, but I hope
they may prove of use to future travellers.
As hardly anything has been written on the subject in the English language
heretofore, I have not been able to make a study of the Kurds from a bibliographical point of view. However, I trust that this will not detract from the
interest of the work. I may add that I had among my servants on my last journey
representatives from the three most important sections of the Kurds, so that I was
able to obtain interpreters without any great difficulty, a matter of some importance
amidst the conflicting dialects of the nomads and sedentary mountaineers.
In preparing the following list of the various tribes of the Kurdish race I have
endeavoured to simplify the work of future students by marking down and
cataloguing as many of the tribes as have come either directly or indirectly under
my notice.
After various abortive attempts at setting them down in a manner comprehensible to any one but myself, I have decided for the purposes of this work to
break up the regions inhabited by Kurds into six zones; to each of these zones a
section of the catalogue is devoted, each section containing a separate enumeration.
Thus in the alphabetical list a tribe will be found, as for instance the Merzigi 76B,
section A. To find the position of the tribe the reader must look in zone A on
the map for the number 76; he will find this number is connected to a chain of
letters; the letter B in this chain will mark the spot where this tribe is to be found,
in the catalogue he will find such particulars as I can supply under the number 76B
in the printed section A.
Before closing this preface may I say that the zones marked on the map are
not ethnological but merely a convenient form of grouping
The Genocide and Persecution series offers readers a multitude of perspectives, allowing for a more nuanced understanding of these complex and horrific periods in world history; each volume is an anthology of previously published materials on acts of geno; Title explores genocide and persecution of the Kurds, including the historical/cultural background of Kurdish persecution in Turkey and Iraqevents from the rise of the communist People’s Republic of China in 1949 to the present; issues surrounding events ; The histories of nations across the globe are marked by dark periods of mass murder, brutal repression, and unrelenting persecution. Remembering and understanding such incidents is vitally important. The Genocide and Persecution series offers students and
Source: Publisher
This edited volume, comprising chapters by leading academics and experts, aims to clarify the complexity of Turkey’s Kurdish question. The Kurdish question is a long-standing, protracted issue, which gained regional and international significance largely in the last thirty years. The Kurdish people who represent the largest ethnic minority in the Middle East without a state have demanded autonomy and recognition since the post-World I wave of self-governance in the region, and their nationalist claims have further intensified since the end of the Cold War. The present volume first describes the evolution of Kurdish nationalism, its genesis during the late nineteenth century in the Ottoman Empire, and its legacy into the new Turkish republic. Second, the volume takes up the violent legacy of Kurdish nationalism and analyzes the conflict through the actions of the PKK, the militant pro-Kurdish organization which grew to be the most important actor in the process. Third, the volume deals with the international dimensions of the Kurdish question, as manifested in Turkey’s evolving relationships with Syria, Iraq, and Iran, the issue regarding the status of the Kurdish minorities in these countries, and the debate over the Kurdish problem in Western capitals.
Originally published in Paris in 1925 under the title La nuit Kurde. From the publisher’s archive.
DESCRIPTION
Octavo. Original black cloth, spine lettered in green. With dust jacket.
CONDITION
A superb copy in the slightly ragged jacket.
Recent years have seen an explosion of protest movements around the world,
and academic theories are racing to catch up with them. This series aims to
further our understanding of the origins, dealings, decisions, and outcomes
of social movements by fostering dialogue among many traditions of thought,
across European nations and across continents. All theoretical perspectives are
welcome. Books in the series typically combine theory with empirical research,
dealing with various types of mobilization, from neighborhood groups to
revolutions. We especially welcome work that synthesizes or compares different
approaches to social movements, such as cultural and structural traditions,
micro- and macro-social, economic and ideal, or qualitative and quantitative.
Books in the series will be published in English. One goal is to encourage nonnative speakers to introduce their work to Anglophone audiences. Another is to
maximize accessibility: all books will be available in open access within a year
after printed publication.
Anatomy of a Civil War demonstrates the destructive nature of war, ranging from the physical to the psychosocial, as well as war’s detrimental effects on the environment. Despite such horrific aspects, evidence suggests that civil war is likely to generate multilayered outcomes. To examine the transformative aspects of civil war, Mehmet Gurses draws on an original survey conducted in Turkey, where a Kurdish armed group, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), has been waging an intermittent insurgency for Kurdish self-rule since 1984. Findings from a probability sample of 2,100 individuals randomly selected from three major Kurdish-populated provinces in the eastern part of Turkey, coupled with insights from face-to-face in-depth interviews with dozens of individuals affected by violence, provide evidence for the multifaceted nature of exposure to violence during civil war. Just as the destructive nature of war manifests itself in various forms and shapes, wartime experiences can engender positive attitudes toward women, create a culture of political activism, and develop secular values at the individual level. In addition, wartime experiences seem to robustly predict greater support for political activism. Nonetheless, changes in gender relations and the rise of a secular political culture appear to be primarily shaped by wartime experiences interacting with insurgent ideology.
In this detailed history of the Kurds from the 19th century to the present day, McDowall examines the interplay of old and new aspects of the struggle, the importance of local rivalries within Kurdish society, the enduring authority of certain forms of leadership and the failure of modern states to respond to the challenge of Kurdish nationalism. Drawing extensively on primary sources McDowall’s book is useful for all who want a better understanding of the underlying dynamics of the Kurdish question.