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.
About the Author:
Mehmet Gurses (Ph.D. in Political Science, University of North Texas, 2007) is an associate professor of Political Science at Florida Atlantic University. His research interests include ethnic and religious conflict, post-civil war peace building, post-civil war democratization, Kurdish politics, and the emergence and evolution of the Islamist parties in the Middle East.
His publications have appeared in such journals as International Interactions, Social Science Quarterly, Civil Wars, Defense and Peace Economics, Democratization, International Studies Perspectives, Party Politics, Conflict Management Peace Science, Political Research Quarterly, and Comparative Politics. His work on transnational ethnic kin and civil war outcomes was awarded Honorable Mention for Best Article in 2015 by the Political Research Quarterly. He is comparative politics and international relations editor of the journal Politics and Religion (Cambridge University Press).
In an interview with the Washington Kurdish Institute (WKI), Dr. Mehmet Gurses talks about his new publication: Anatomy of a Civil War: Sociopolitical Impacts of the Kurdish Conflict in Turkey.
The book is available for readers here.
WKI: What has inspired you to write about the topic?
Gurses: As I explain in the preamble of the book, this book means more than just another academic publication to me. As with many other projects, this book has a story through which my professional and personal identities come together. I am a native of Diyarbakir, the largest Kurdish-populated province in the eastern part of Turkey. Like many in the region, as a child ,I was caught in the middle of an armed conflict between the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Turkish state. But unlike many Kurds, life took me away from the conflict zone as I won a scholarship to continue my secondary education in Izmir, a Turkish-dominated major city in the western part of the country, and then moved to Istanbul, the largest city in the country, for my college education. That was the 1990s, a decade that saw millions of Kurds uprooted because of the conflict.
This was followed by my “American life,” as I packed and came to New York in the early 2000s and shortly after ended up in Texas for my Ph.D. One of the first classes I took was “Civil Wars” taught by Professor David Mason who would later become my dissertation adviser. I remember telling him that the class was helping me make sense of my own life. When I got a chance to re-visit Diyarbakir after more than a decade of being away, I was struck by the change I observed. That was late 2000s.
There was an observable, palpable change. The conflict dynamics had created a determined personality in spite of the suffering it had produced. Kurdish women had risen to be mayors, parliamentarians, party leaders, and fighters. Islam, a crucial component of Kurdish culture, had taken a back seat in the newly defined, emerging Kurdish identity. And this was taking place in the “middle” of the Middle East, not a likely place to experience these important changes. That was when I started thinking about “telling” this remarkable story.
WKI: How do you compare this book to other publications that address the Kurdish question in Turkey?
Gurses: Many excellent books have shed considerable light on the Kurdish struggle for justice and equality. In this book I look into the anatomy of an internal war by demonstrating both the destructive nature of war and its unlikely “positive outcomes.” This book, to my knowledge, is the first empirical study that addresses sociopolitical changes the decades-long insurgency has engendered. It builds on a probability sample of responses from more than 2,000 individuals as well as in-depth face-to-face interviews with nearly 100 Kurds whose lives have been deeply affected by the conflict.
WKI: What era of Turkey does the book concentrate on? Giving that the Turkish government has had the Kurdish issue since its establishment in 1923.
Gurses: Unlike other cases upon which the literature on war and change is based (e.g., El Salvador, Uganda), the Kurdish conflict due mainly to its “ethnic” character is primarily located in the Kurdish part of Turkey. Thus its effects are much more observable in the Kurdish provinces. To clarify, as I explain in the first chapter (The Dark Side of the War), while the five decades of conflict in Colombia has forcibly displaced nearly 6 million people (roughly 13% of the total population), 3-4 million displaced Kurds make up a significantly smaller proportion of the total population in Turkey. This, however, needs to be qualified as the Kurdish conflict was primarily (and still is) confined to the Kurdish-dominated eastern regions of Turkey. A closer examination reveals that 4 million internally displaced Kurds constitute approximately 25% of the estimated Kurdish population in the east.
As a result, the book draws on data collected in a number of Kurdish provinces in the east, including Diyarbakir, Van, Urfa, Batman, and Mus.
WKI: After conducting hundreds of surveys with individuals, do you think the civil war has only affected the Kurdish side or the Turkish society as a whole?
Gurses: To be sure, the war has affected the entire society in one form or another. However, for the reasons I outlined earlier, the conflict has primarily impacted the Kurdish side. In fact, these dissimilar effects and outcomes deserve elaboration. While the conflict has largely strengthened nationalistic attitudes among the majority Turks, its main effect for the Kurds has been a societal transformation from which a modern and secular Kurdish identity has arisen.
It is quite amazing that many Kurds, educated and illiterates and urbanities and peasants alike would make references to such modern concepts as “democracy,” “liberty,” and “gender equality” as they try to articulate their grievances and demands. Despite, at times, the lack of a deep understanding of what such concepts actually entail, this picture is emerging from a region which has been described as the “belt of patriarchy.”
WKI: In what direction is the Kurdish society moving to within Turkey, if the civil war continues?
Gurses: This is a million dollar question. One of the key outcomes of the three-decades-long conflict has been an increase in the desire for secession among the Kurds. While there still is a chance for a political solution, the longer the conflict continues, the less likely that the conflict can be brought to an end via a democratic comprise. As I discuss in detail in chapter 6 (War and Peace), it has become clear that cosmetic, half-way solutions to the conflict will not be sufficient to bring about positive peace. The conflict has turned into a very complex situation with a trans-border dimension. Absent significant democratization, the conflict is likely to continue with potentially more complications, bloodshed, and suffering.
WKI: Why do you think that the Kurdish population especially the youth have strong feelings for the armed groups that fight the state like the PKK?
Gurses: The data at hands cannot answer this as we did not ask that question. However, one should keep in mind that an insurgent group that started by a few college kids in the late 1970s could not have survived the harsh realities of the Middle East without a substantial support from the people it claims to represent and fight for.
WK: In your opinion, what are the most devastating angles in this civil war between the Kurds and the Turkish government?
Gurses: Destroyed houses and roads can be re-built. Bridges can be fixed. And the tress can be re-planted. But legitimacy is much harder to gain or re-gain. In my opinion, the single most important issue in building peace and healing the wounds is lost legitimacy. While it may sound like a cliché, the hearts and minds of the Kurds will have to be won for a sustainable peace. And this, I admit, is not an easy task.
WKI: How significant is it for American readers to realize what is taking place in Turkey?
Gurses: To put it bluntly, without Turkey there is no peace and stability in the region and without a solution to the Kurdish conflict, there will be no peace and stability in Turkey. So the United States must engage a more active role in finding a peaceful solution between the Kurds and the Turkish state.
WKI: Do you believe there are powers in Turkey or the world that can change and fix the damage that the society have suffered after decades?
Gurses: I would certainly hope so. It is time to mend and heal.
WKI: We wish you best of luck and we appreciate you taking the time to conduct this interview.
Gurses: Thank you. I would like to thank you and the WKI for the opportunity to talk about my book. Also, I would like to think that this is just a step towards giving a voice to those who otherwise lack a fair representation. I plan to expand upon this project and as such, I would be happy to lend an ear to anyone who may have something to say about the topic.