During the past decade, the Syrian civil war has put a halt to almost all archaeological research in Syria. But the sites, and the people who take care of them, remain. Within North-East Syria,...Show moreDuring the past decade, the Syrian civil war has put a halt to almost all archaeological research in Syria. But the sites, and the people who take care of them, remain. Within North-East Syria, archaeologists are left to pick up the pieces from what has turned into one of the 21st century’s longest conflicts to date. Simultaneously, a political revolution, partly driven by a left-wing anti-state ideology known as Democratic Confederalism, has taken hold of the region. A radical revision of all previous government structures occurred, including heritage organisations. In this thesis, the way these structures operate and the history that gave way to them is investigated through the use of interviews with relevant participants. By placing this in the broader context of the Kurdish Freedom Movement and the Syrian Civil War, we can uncover the until- now unreported efforts to revive Syria’s archaeological scene on the ground. Motivated by a new political paradigm and the experiences of decades of marginalisation, North-East Syria’s new heritage and archaeology institutions have put in a tremendous effort to save the troubled region’s antiquities. At the same time, the progressive political outlook of this autonomous region also permeates it’s heritage institutions, with decentralised democracy, gender parity and multiculturalism being key features of their organisations.Show less
This thesis aims to address the question: “How does the representation of Kurdish cultural resistance in visual art made by the Kurdish-Dutch diaspora fit within the Kurdish political discourse?”...Show moreThis thesis aims to address the question: “How does the representation of Kurdish cultural resistance in visual art made by the Kurdish-Dutch diaspora fit within the Kurdish political discourse?” To answer this question, films by Beri Shalmashi and Reber Dosky were analyzed by means of Visual Discourse Analysis on the basis of themes and symbols that fit within Kurdish political discourse. Unlike traditional International Relations (IR), this thesis takes an aesthetic turn and presents a more expressive and critical view from a diasporic narrative of the Kurdish question, which will deepen the knowledge concerning this conflict through visual discourse analysis. The themes and symbols discussed are cultural memory and collective trauma, the geo-linguistic homeland, autonomy, feminism, and the Kurdish mountains. These themes and symbols are all linked to Kurdish nationalism and cultural resistance and play an important role in the creation of a Kurdish identity among the Kurds living in diaspora. Moreover, this thesis demonstrates how the Kurdish diasporic community represents itself and how politicized Kurdish culture is.Show less
In the last decade, the participation of women in political violence has received an increasing amount of academic attention. However, scholars often neglected to find empirical evidence on the...Show moreIn the last decade, the participation of women in political violence has received an increasing amount of academic attention. However, scholars often neglected to find empirical evidence on the implications of women for armed groups perceived legitimacy. To fill this gap, this thesis explores the Women’s Protection Unit, which received worldwide media attention in their battle against the Islamic State, as a single case study. This thesis examines the Western perspective towards these women combatants by employing a qualitative content analysis of 43 Dutch newspaper articles. The results reveal that the media uses stereotypes about gender by framing these women combatants as non-aggressive, weaker, and less threatening than the male combatants of the Islamic State. As a result, the media legitimizes the use of violence of the female combatants as they need to protect themselves. Besides, the media glorifies the women of the YPJ by pointing out their fight for Western values, namely equality. Consequently, this thesis posits that the way the media frame the women combatants and their opponent, the Islamic State, favours the legitimacy of the armed group, the Women’s Protection Unit.Show less
This article is aimed at developing our understanding of ethnic conflict and war which is needed to be able to build new theories about resolving these conflicts what is up until now barely covered...Show moreThis article is aimed at developing our understanding of ethnic conflict and war which is needed to be able to build new theories about resolving these conflicts what is up until now barely covered within the literature. This is executed by testing the theory of Tang, Xiong and Li about the ethnogeographical location of the oil. This theory states that when the oil is located within the core territory of a subordinate minority group it has a positive effect on the onset and escalation of an ethnic conflict. By performing case studies on conflicts between the Kurds and the Iraq state and Cabinda and Angola we found this theory to be true. There is also found that each case has a high degree of specificity which makes it very difficult to establish a universal model to accommodate ethnical conflicts caused by the ethnogeographical location of the oil. It is therefore logical to suggest further research which aims at establishing a framework for resolving ethnical conflict to perform a case study and develop a case specific solution while attempts of establishing a universal one are likely to fail.Show less
This thesis aims to demonstrate that the Kurds were instrumental in defining the course of Iraq-Iran conflict. To achieve this objective, the concepts of sectarianism and nationalism are considered...Show moreThis thesis aims to demonstrate that the Kurds were instrumental in defining the course of Iraq-Iran conflict. To achieve this objective, the concepts of sectarianism and nationalism are considered in relation to the position of the Kurds in Iraq, and their cultural relationship with Iran. With this thesis I have shown that the Kurds are a good example of how sectarianism was misunderstood and reduced to being considered as a rebellion hence undermining the community’s pursuit of a national identity.Show less
This thesis looks into symbols of nationalism to investigate the deeper complexities of nationalism. Specifically, the focus has been on the Kurdish minstrels, the dengbêjs, and how they reflect...Show moreThis thesis looks into symbols of nationalism to investigate the deeper complexities of nationalism. Specifically, the focus has been on the Kurdish minstrels, the dengbêjs, and how they reflect the changes undergone by Kurdish nationalism in Turkey. The main argument of this thesis is that the dengbêjs, through their changed importance, are indicative of the changes in Kurdish nationalism itself. It is specifically the rise of the dengbêjs’ popularity in recent years that is discussed. To explore their significance, the first chapter will outline the fundamental concepts of nationalism and collective memory. To provide further understanding of the situation for Kurds in Turkey and why the dengbêjs may be so important, an overview will be provided of Kurdish history and the historical developments of Kurdish nationalism. Finally, the third chapter will discuss the dengbêjs, analyze the developments the minstrel art has gone through, and relate these to the changes in Kurdish nationalism. The dengbêjs form a reminder and a reinvigoration of the Kurdish identity, and elevate the Kurdish language and culture to new levels. The dengbêjs’ popularization is not only a matter of local processes, but equally of global processes affecting nationalism and culture.Show less
The Kurdish question of statehood has been relevant for centuries, and the debate has especially flared up in light of the Kurdish assistance against ISIS, and the 2017 referendum for a Kurdish...Show moreThe Kurdish question of statehood has been relevant for centuries, and the debate has especially flared up in light of the Kurdish assistance against ISIS, and the 2017 referendum for a Kurdish state. Up to this day, and for over a century, the Kurdish tribes have struggled to find a structure of self-governance in the form of an autonomous state. Despite having been a culture present in the Middle East in history and tradition from before the arrival of both the Turks and the Arabs, they seem to have been left out when cultures such as the two latter transformed their respective social structures to statehood. During the creation of many Middle Eastern states, and afterwards during the period in which these consolidated their domestic structures, the Kurdish tribes were involuntarily assimilated into a number of “new” states after the fall of the Ottoman empire. Once in submission of their new boundaries, the Kurdish peoples had to accept a variety of foreign realities concerning their own political, economic, and social beliefs. This thesis concerns itself with the relationship between Tribalism and Democracy, and how 'the tribe' as both a social structure and a signifier of identity can be both a stimulant and an impediment to nationalism.Show less
“Although, according to the founders of the Republic of Turkey, a Turkish ethnic nationalist ideology had to become the fabric of society, the irony is that this ideology is at the same time the...Show more“Although, according to the founders of the Republic of Turkey, a Turkish ethnic nationalist ideology had to become the fabric of society, the irony is that this ideology is at the same time the main source of political conflict and violence” (Jongerden 2001, 81). The establishment of the Turkish Republic under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal, consolidating Turkish Nationalism as State Ideology, was the beginning of a history full of paradoxes and contradictions. Especially the Turkish central government and the Kurdish community entered a century of ups and downs what would become known as the ‘Kurdish Question’. While the Turkish Nationalists have remained constant in their ideology, the Kurds have witnessed a turbulent ideological development throughout history, which has both divided as unified the Kurdish community on different occasions. Although the dream of an independent Kurdistan has always been in the background, the Kurdish community has not always been able to pursue this dream, or been willing to. In the more modern days, however, when the Kurds in Turkey became more active again in their struggle for independence, the PKK gained prominence among the Kurds, with Abdullah Ocalan as its leader. Thereupon, since the late 1990s, Ocalan would become to represent the PKK, whereas the PKK in its turn would represent the entire Kurdish Nation (Bozarslan 2008, 351). Thus, when Abdullah Ocalan came up with the ideology of democratic confederalism, the Kurdish community followed. How did Ocalan, however, after all these years, come up with this ideology one may wonder, and how does this democratic confederalism apply to the ‘Kurdish Question’? In order to be able to research this complicated issue in the most effective ways, the theoretical framework of the issue must be determined and defined correctly, prior to the actual analysis of the case. This means that in order to fully comprehend concepts such as the ‘Nation-State’, it must be established what the concepts of the ‘Nation’ and the ‘State’ individually withhold, after which, the concept of the ‘Nation-State’ can be explained and analyzed in the light of the Kurdish Question. Furthermore, to properly grasp these conceptions, we must understand their foundations. Therefore, by means of chronological order, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Ernest Renan, and Max Weber will be examined, to lay down the basic rationale behind ‘State formation’, ‘the Nation’ and the ‘State’. In addition, the contexts of ‘Nationalism’ and the Right to Self-Determination will be assessed. Based on this theoretical framework the ideological development of the Kurds in Turkey will be decomposed and analyzed to investigate how the direct secessionist Kurdish ambitions for an independent Nation-State evolved into an ideology of Democratic Confederalism.Show less
The number of residents of Nordic countries, who have joined the contemporary conflicts of Iraq and Syria as foreign fighters, is high in relation to their populations. While most of these...Show moreThe number of residents of Nordic countries, who have joined the contemporary conflicts of Iraq and Syria as foreign fighters, is high in relation to their populations. While most of these individuals have indeed travelled to the conflict zones to become foreign fighters in the ranks of ISIS or other Islamist groups, there are also Nordic residents who have joined factions fighting against the Islamists. This thesis studies the background factors and motivational reasons in becoming a foreign fighter of 26 individuals from Nordic countries in Kurdish factions in the conflicts of Iraq and Syria, combining both primary and secondary sources in the research and linking the findings of the research into existing literature in the emerging field of foreign fighter studies.Show less
Research master thesis | Middle Eastern Studies (research) (MA)
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This thesis focuses on property disputes in Iraq resulting from former regime policies between 1968 and 2003. The former regime used three intertwined strategies that resulted in loss of real...Show moreThis thesis focuses on property disputes in Iraq resulting from former regime policies between 1968 and 2003. The former regime used three intertwined strategies that resulted in loss of real property in particularly the northern regions of Iraq. Through land reforms, Arabization, and a series of attacks on Kurdish regions in the late 1980’s (entitled Anfāl) many persons were affected, notably Kurds. Houses and land were then often given to Arabs to tip the demographic balance in Kurdish majority areas in favor of Arabs. This thesis describes the stories of three victims of such property loss, and proceeds to analyze the legislative framework in place to solve these issues. From there, it analyses the Property Claims Commission, which has been the sole institution in Iraq to address the property conflicts that developed as a result of these former strategies.Show less
In the latest presidential elections of Turkey, which was realized on August 2014, Selahattin Demirtas, the co-leader of pro-Kurdish ethnic party HDP, got 9,76% of the votes. Compared to previous...Show moreIn the latest presidential elections of Turkey, which was realized on August 2014, Selahattin Demirtas, the co-leader of pro-Kurdish ethnic party HDP, got 9,76% of the votes. Compared to previous elections, this meant fifty percent increase in votes of the party. Thus, the main problem of the thesis is that in Turkey, considering the vote limitation of an ethnic party in a historical context, how could the noticeable rise in votes of HDP’s candidate Demirtas could be explained? The thesis will argue that there are several factors which contributed to the success of the HDP. First, for the last few years Kurdish political movement has been following a new strategy with which the party abandons Kurdish ethnic party claims and aims to become a party of Turkey, with increasing democratic modernization emphasis. Second, Gezi movement which occurred in 2013, showed the societal base of leftist movements in Turkey. Democratic modernization of HDP was in line with the ideals of Gezi movement and Demirtas successfully used the discourse of Gezi, whereby he enhanced the electorate base of his party. Lastly, the absence of 10% election threshold had an important role in voting behavior of the electorate and this factor had positive influence on the vote share of HDP.Show less
