The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and popular support: counterterrorism towards an insurgency nature

Ünal, Mustafa Coşar

doi:10.1080/09592318.2012.661610

Cited by 11 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…However, these failed to gain legitimate status, and the PKK was officially listed as a terrorist organization by certain countries. The PKK recreated itself in 2005 and employed violence in a reactionary manner to gain popular support and regroup after the long-lasting ceasefire [68]. With the creation of KCK in 2007, the PKK switched to a bottom-up approach in which political activities took the lead.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the use of terror by a non-state actor does not make the situation a mere terrorism issue. The legitimacy of governmental countermeasures and their direct impact on popular support make such distinctions crucial [68]. Since COIN is more of a political and socio-economic phenomenon, it is important to have a compelling and consistent narrative communicated via appropriate means as the state implements fitting policies [15].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although the PKK started as an insurgency and concurrently employed terror, deep-rooted historical grievances and regional instability have sustained the insurrection. The government's counterterrorism and securitization actions did not consider popular support for the PKK until the early 2000s [68]. During the entire span of the PKK conflict, the Turkish government has obfuscated the true meanings of the terms terrorism and insurgency.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However the fight has not ended for many reasons, one of which is that, as Lyall and Wilson [42] claimed, counterinsurgency (COIN) efforts, such as subjecting the uncommitted population to rewards and punishment with no critical information about the local population, do not have a chance of success. The Turkish Government's reliance on deterrence efforts (military and police operations) with an indiscriminate use of force unintentionally fueled the insurrection rather than deterring it [67,68]. 24 Third Conference-May 1994, fifth Congress-January 1995, fourth Conference-March 1996, fifth Conference-May 1988, and sixth Congress-February 1999.…”

Section: First Period 1984-1994mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Terrorism versus insurgency: a conceptual analysis

Ünal

2016

Crime Law Soc Change

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This study analyzes the distinction between terrorism and insurgency by drawing upon the case of the PKK conflict in Turkey. It provides a conceptual discussion through multi-dimensional analyses from the actor-oriented, the actionoriented, the purpose-oriented, and the ontology-oriented perspectives. In so doing, in addition to the organizational characteristics, it critically identifies the PKK's varying strategies of terrorist and insurgent violence, and their temporality and reasoning as the conflict unfolded to make conceptual inferences. This study found, first, that while the PKK as an actor indicates an insurgent character, the PKK's use of violence reflects intense terrorism action particularly after its military defeat. Second, the use of terrorism by the PKK reflects an inextricable overlap in temporality and a direct link with guerilla methods. Despite the PKK's terrorist and insurgent violence resulted from different factors and reasoning at the intermediate level; they are designed to converge at the overall aim of the PKK's political campaign. Third, the PKK violence reflects varying purposes of terrorism, e.g., intimidation, attrition, survival and group solidarity. Fourth, after reaching the tipping point that resulted in its military defeat in 1994, the PKK resorted to more indirect and asymmetrical violence in an increasing tendency to deflect state power and, thus, to coerce Turkey into a political compromise, i.e., a negotiated settlement.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: First Period 1984-1994mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Terrorism versus insurgency: a conceptual analysis

Ünal

2016

Crime Law Soc Change

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“…Drawing on the counterinsurgency and terrorism studies, many scholars attribute the persistence of this intractable conflict to the security needs of Turkey, such as Turkey's concerns over its territory and the protection of its citizens (Derin‐Güre, ; Sentas, ; Unal, , ). Notwithstanding the merits of these studies, which showed the “material” basis of this clash, the conflict in Turkey has rarely been analyzed from a sociopsychological lens, commencing with the ephemeral impetus of conflict resolution attempts in Turkey (2009–15).…”

Section: Conflict Traumas Emotions and Memories In The Making Of Namentioning

confidence: 99%

When Conflict Traumas Fragment: Investigating the Sociopsychological Roots of Turkey’s Intractable Conflict

Adısönmez

2019

Political Psychology

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This article investigates the historical processes contributing towards the specific development of Turkey after the 1920s that in turn established the main contours of Turkey's conflict with the Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê (PKK). It first argues that the traumatic conflict memories of the Turkish leadership influenced its individual-level patterns of actions. These memories were used by the leadership to consolidate its imagined national agency in Turkey. The leadership perceived the traditional-conservative groups as ontological insecurity sources, jeopardizing this agency. It second claims that Turkey's military apparatus is designed to silence these ontological insecurity sources. Finally, it claims these developments informed the ways in which the PKK's narratives of rebellion were constructed. Empirically, it problematizes the impact of the Ottoman Empire's collapse on the Turkish elites. Then, through a discourse analysis of elites' speeches and legal documents, it traces their anxieties to the Ottoman Empire's traumatic end. This article contributes to the trauma literature on ontological security and the emotions literature in International Relations in two ways. It first explores the particular national context in which traumatic memories are shaped and in turn articulated through emotional performances. Secondly, it shows the interplay between sociopsychological processes of security and agency making.

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Turkey’s Struggle with the Kurdish Question: Roots, Evolution, and Changing National, Regional, and International Contexts

Ünal

Harmancı

2016

Eradicating Terrorism From the Middle East

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The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and popular support: counterterrorism towards an insurgency nature

Cited by 11 publications

References 24 publications

Terrorism versus insurgency: a conceptual analysis

Terrorism versus insurgency: a conceptual analysis

When Conflict Traumas Fragment: Investigating the Sociopsychological Roots of Turkey’s Intractable Conflict

Turkey’s Struggle with the Kurdish Question: Roots, Evolution, and Changing National, Regional, and International Contexts

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