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COMPARATIVE KURDISH
POLITICS IN THE MIDDLE EAST
ACTORS, IDEAS, AND INTERESTS
Edited By Emel Elif Tugdar and Serhun Al
Comparative Kurdish Politics in the Middle East
Emel Elif Tugdar · Serhun Al
Editors
Comparative Kurdish
Politics in the Middle
East
Actors, Ideas, and Interests
Editors
Emel Elif Tugdar Serhun Al
Department of Politics İzmir University of Economics
and International Balçova-İzmir, Turkey
University of Kurdistan Hewler
Erbil, Iraq
Part I Actors
Part II Ideas
v
vi Contents
9 The Stateless and Why Some Gain and Others not: The
Case of Iranian Kurdistan 201
Idris Ahmedi
Conclusion 227
Index 233
Editors and Contributors
Emel Elif Tugdar holds the position of Assistant Professor and Chair
in Department of Politics and International Relations at University of
Kurdistan Hawler in Erbil/Kurdistan Region of Iraq. She holds a Ph.D.
in Political Science from West Virginia University (USA). Her research
agenda includes ethnopolitics, human rights, and politics of gender
with a major focus on the Middle East, specifically Turkey and Iraqi
Kurdistan. Her email address is: [email protected].
Serhun Al is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political
Science and International Relations at Izmir University of Economics,
Turkey. He holds a doctorate degree in Political Science from the
University of Utah, USA. His research interests include politics of iden-
tity, ethnic conflict, security studies, and social movements. His pri-
mary geographical focus is on Turkey and the Kurds in the Middle East.
He has widely published in journals such as Ethnopolitics, Studies in
Ethnicity and Nationalism, Nationalities Papers, Globalizations, Journal
of International Relations and Development, and Journal of Balkan and
Near Eastern Studies. His email address is: [email protected].
vii
viii Editors and Contributors
Contributors
xi
List of Tables
xiii
Introduction
Actors
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
State-building in the Middle East has been a popular topic in politi-
cal science literature since 9/11. The interest of Western powers in the
region has increased in parallel with security concerns under the name of
“spreading democracy.” Thus, the concept of state-building has acquired
political, economic, and social dimensions, all of which are required to
explain the state-building patterns in the Middle East. This chapter will
examine some of the key theories of state-building and how certain the-
ories have been applied to the Middle East and Iraq. I will then con-
sider how these thematic areas relate to the core focus of the analysis: the
state-building efforts in Iraqi Kurdistan.
I will concentrate on sociopolitical factors and, in particular, the role
of the Turkoman people in this process. The northern part of Iraq, which
is known as Iraqi Kurdistan, is a region rich in ethno-religious diversity.
However, the role of the Kurds in state-building, for example, has been
well researched. The Turkomans are the third-largest ethnic group in
Iraq, yet we know relatively little about their role in constructing a suc-
cessful Iraqi Kurdistan. This chapter aims to take a closer look at this
group as their participation is vital in a number of different areas. As the
Turkomans are politically very active, we are interested in their attitudes
and role in Kurdish state-building. This chapter will examine demo-
graphic and related political questions, religious, cultural and ethnic mat-
ters, the role of language, and the vital connection to Turkey. The central
argument presented here is that, while there are a number of complex
problems for Turkoman integration (in addition to current issues related
to ISIS, economic recession, and the refugee crisis), in many of these
areas, there are also several reasons for optimism within a KRG that has
often shown both tolerance and respect for the Turkoman population.
Middle East have been tried. Byrd (2005) contends that in the case of
Afghanistan, a neoliberal approach has been applied. The international
community has also focused on the reconstruction and economic devel-
opment, not only the restoration of security. Lu and Thies (2013) also
look at state-building in the Middle East from the economic and political
perspective as they argue that Middle East state-building is politically and
economically dependent on oil reserves in the region.
In Iraqi Kurdistan, the economic aspect of state-building is undoubt-
edly very important. Since 2003, there have been some major infrastruc-
ture projects overseen by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG),
including investment in new roads and modern airports. Other prom-
ising developments include rapid improvements in information technol-
ogy and communications with better access to the Internet and mobile
phone provision. Moreover, there has been a concerted effort from
the KRG to go beyond a centrally controlled public economy with the
active encouragement of investment through tax incentives and indi-
vidual enterprise.4 Nevertheless, the current prospects for economic
development and state-building in this area are hampered by the threat
from ISIS which, along with the consequences of the war, has fuelled
the influx of around 1.6 million refugees and internally displaced per-
sons into Iraqi Kurdistan. This has reduced the possibilities of investment
and the economy went into recession in 2014. This dimension of state-
building will play a key role in the future and more research is required,
bearing in mind these recent developments. However, a further in-depth
analysis of these economic factors is beyond the scope of this particular
examination. As stated above, the fundamental aim of this chapter is to
focus on the sociopolitical aspects of state-building.5
Hasan Turan
Turkoman Member of Iraqi
Council of Representatives12
Turkoman can be considered as a generic name, covering ethnic
Turkmens and Turkic-speaking communities in Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and
Central Asia. Petrosian (2003) argues that there is a conceptual lack
in the literature to describe who Turkomans are. In history, the first
mass flow of Oghuz-Turkoman origin tribes to Iraq is associated with
the Seljuk invasions. However, it is well known that the penetration of
some Turkic groupings to Iraq took place in the time of the Caliphate
and even before.13 These different flows became geographical factors
that the main mass of Turkomans merged into other ethnic formations.
The Turkmen groups who went far away to the West became isolated
from their Middle Asian kinsmen in an ethnic, cultural, and even linguis-
tic sense. Thus, today, we see two clearly divided peoples with the same
ethnic name.14
Petrosian (2003) explains these two different Turkoman groups as:
(1) Turkomans, who are a common denomination of the Turkic eth-
nic continuum from Central Asia, including Iran, Iraq, and Turkey and
(2) Turkmen, which is a term designating the ethnic Turkmens in the
Republic of Turkmenistan and adjoining areas, as well as the Turkoman
inhabitants in Iran. This definition also includes the remnants and
descendants of the old Turkoman ethnic elements resided in Iraq during
and after the ninth century AD.15
I use the term “Turkoman” to refer to the Iraqi Turks. In Iraq,
Turkoman settlements are located mainly in the northeastern and cen-
tral provinces of Iraq such as Kirkuk, Mosul, Sulaimanyah, Erbil, Diyala,
Khilla, and Baghdad.16 Turkomans live in an original and peculiarly
long corridor area, beginning at the villages of Shibik and Rashidiya
and covering the towns of Tel-Afar, Erbil, Kirkuk, and the settlements
of Altin-Kyopru, Daquq, Tuz Khurmatu, partly including Bayat, Kifri,
Qara-Tepe, Kizil Rabat, Khanekin, Shahriban, al-Mansuriye, Deli Abbas,
Kazaniya, and Mendeli town, which creates a natural ethnic border
10 E.E. Tugdar
between Arabs and Kurds.17 Thus, the great majority of the Turkoman
population resides in the Kurdistan region, which makes their contribu-
tion to state-building a significant factor.
Turkomans are the third largest ethnic group in Iraq after Arabs and
Kurds. As of 2011, the Iraqi Turkmen population is estimated to be at
around 3 million, which constitutes 8.57% of the Iraqi population, tak-
ing into account all available estimates of towns and villages that they live
in.18 Thus, this demographic reality could be expected to contribute to
the state-building ambitions of Iraqi Kurdistan. Hasan Turan, a Member
of the Iraqi Council of Representatives, notes that in the Middle East,
wherever Kurds live, Turks are always their neighbors, which is taken to
mean that this close coexistence is consequential for whatever Kurds do
or plan to do.19
Although, the subject of population is a significant issue for the pro-
cess of state-building in Kurdistan, many political elites of Turkoman
origin claim that the population data is not reliable in the Turkoman
areas that belong to Kurdistan: specifically Erbil and Kirkuk. Minister
of Justice, Sinan Celebi, points out that the number of Turkomans
used to be 250,000 when there were not many Kurds in Erbil in the
1960s. Today, he claims that the population estimate of Turkomans is
750,000 in Erbil. Celebi’s argument points to an abnormal demographic
increase, which he links to the assimilation policies from the Kurdish
side.20 However, Celebi’s information conflicts with the data on the
Erbil population, which is around 1 million. Nonetheless, Celebi’s ideas
do highlight the fact that many Turkomans claim themselves as Kurds.
His advisor, Dr. Soran Shukur, claims that the reason for this uncer-
tain demographic change is related to the quota system in the elec-
tions through which the Turkomans currently have five representatives
in the Kurdistan Parliament.21 In other words, through assimilation, the
Turkomans improve their political influence.
The role of the Turkomans within the KRG presents a reality of mixed
democratic gains and achievements. There have been some significant
1 IRAQI KURDISTAN’S STATEHOOD ASPIRATIONS AND NON-KURDISH … 11
Language: French
LES RÉPUBLIQUES
DE
L’AMÉRIQUE DU SUD
LEURS GUERRES ET LEUR PROJET DE FÉDÉRATION