The Kurdish Nationalist Movement in the 1990s: Its Impact on Turkey and the Middle East [Paperback]

Robert Olson (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 31, 1996

" In this volume, leading scholars on the history of the Kurds lay out the case that the Kurdish Question looms as one of the largest threats to peace and stability in the Middle East. With the majority of Kurds living within its borders, no country faces this threat more squarely than Turkey, whose concept of a unified, cohesive nation -- in which the existence of ethnic minorities is not acknowledged -- makes the powder keg more difficult to manage than elsewhere. Separate sections examine the development of the movement and explore its influence on Turkey's foreign, domestic, and human rights policies, in the end questioning the viability of the Turkish state as presently constituted.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Although Turkey is the focus of this collection of nine studies of "the domestic, foreign, economic, political and judicial challenges [posed by] the growth and spread of the Kurdish nationalist movement," it would also be a useful supplement to David McDowall's Modern History of the Kurds (1996) for readers struggling to understand the renewed presence of U.S. Cruise missiles and B-52s in the skies over Iraq. (The potential for future problems in Turkey may also constitute a reason to consider acquisition.) The authors carefully examine how the Kurdish movement has developed within Turkey since the 1980s and explore the effect of those developments on Turkey's foreign, domestic, and human rights policies. The Kurds' unique position as the largest ethnic group in the world with no geographical, nation-state "home" creates daunting problems within and between all the Mideast nations with large Kurdish minorities. Readers willing to invest time and effort to achieve a better grasp of this complex and troubled region will find useful data and insights here. Mary Carroll --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Readers struggling to understand the renewed presence of U.S. Cruise missiles and B-52s in the skies over Iraq... and willing to invest time and effort to achieve a better grasp of this complex and troubled region will find useful data and insights here." -- Booklist

"The Kurdish question is poisoning the body-politic of the whole country." -- Middle East International

"An invaluable briefing on one of the Middle East's most complex, enduring, and tragic conflicts." -- Midwest Book Review

"Accomplishes what we cannot do in this country and which will cause eyebrows to be raised in official circles." -- Milliyet

"The book's essays are not only informative but impressive." -- Perspectives on Political Science

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: The University Press of Kentucky (October 31, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813108969
• ISBN-13: 978-0813108964
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,294,446 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Book, October 1, 2009

By 

Brian J. Lanahan - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Kurdish Nationalist Movement in the 1990s: Its Impact on Turkey and the Middle East (Paperback)

Great book shows the development of Kurdish nationalism in Turkey and the rest of the middle east. Also shows the terrible repression and the genocide that Turkey is perpetrating against the Kurds. Lastly shows that Kemalism and the Turkish policy of not even letting the Kurds "exist" in linguistic or cultural terms must end.

9 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Kemalism, not the Kurds, needs resolving, October 16, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Kurdish Nationalist Movement in the 1990s: Its Impact on Turkey and the Middle East (Paperback)

Perhaps the most valuable lesson that can be gleamed from this collection of essays is that the resolution of the Kurdish problem will come only with Turkey's realization that it must reform the fundamental characteristic of its particular political basis - Kemalism. As Mark Muller writes, only by abandoning ethno-nationalism for nationalism, which strikes at the heart of Turkey's entire existence since 1920, can Turkey deal successfully with the Kurds. Discovering such a lesson is well worth reading this book. END

3 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE BEST BOOK I EVER READ ABOUT KURDS IN ENGLISH!, November 25, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Kurdish Nationalist Movement in the 1990s: Its Impact on Turkey and the Middle East (Paperback)

Great book and very informative. I hope the author will write more books about the world's biggest stateless nation also in the future.