GAROD BOOKS
Ismail Besikci,
International Colony Kurdistan
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Ismail Besikci, |
Description
Ismail Besikci is a renown Turkish sociologist who specializes on Kurds in south-eastern Turkey. He has authored several important works on Kurdish social organization and the continuing plight of Kurds today. He has also been imprisoned in Turkey most of his adult life because he has spoken out on the Kurdish issue. Besikci argues that the Turkish state has been practicing a policy of genocide against Kurds over the past 80 years.
International Colony Kurdistan is probably Besikci's most open critique of the present division of Kurdistan, an ethnically contigious area (mainly) between Turkey, Iran and Iraq - with a Kurdish population of over 20 million people. Besikci argues that, for all their political differences, there is a longstanding understanding between these regional states to deny Kurds the right of self- determination and nationhood.
Ismail Besikci's International Colony Kurdistan was originally published in 1991 and led to the imprisonment of the author in Turkey. The book remains a roadmap for our understanding of Kurdistan today.
Table of Contents
A Political Map of Kurdistan
Introduction to English Edition (Kani Xulam, AKIN)
Part I. Kurdistan and Kurdish Identity
Introduction
The Establishment of Colonies in the Nineteenth Century
The Political Status of Kurdistan and the Kurdish Nation: A Country and a Nation Without an
Identity
How the Policy of Divide and Rule Facilitates the Colonialists
The Common Colony of Kurdistan
The Kurdish Issue is not a Minority Issue
Kurdistan and the Liquidation of the Classic Colonies
The Imperialist Struggle to Divide Kurdistan 1915-1925
The Focal Point of the Kurdish Issue: The Division of Kurdistan and the Application of the Policy
of "Divide, Rule and Exterminate" on the Kurdish Nation
The Slogans of Kemalism
Human Rights and the Kurds
Double Standards Applied in Interpreting the Principle of Equality
The Slogans of Unity and Togetherness
The Problem of Identity Amongst Kurdish Intellectuals
The United Nations and the Kurds
Kurdistan is no Longer What it Used to be: the Rise of National Consciousness
The Kurdish Issue and GAP
The "First Bullet" Theory
State Terror in Kurdistan and Basis of Guerilla Warfare
The Material and psychological Basis of Guerilla Warfare
The Negative Influence of the Official State Ideology
The Failure of the Official Ideology
The Visible Result of Guerilla Warfare
Colonialist Practices and Turkish Intellectuals
The Need for Scientific Research
PART II. Reflections on the "Kurdish Ruling Class"
Introduction
A Worn Out Phrase
The Kurds Facing State Oppression
The Transformation of the Class Struggle in Kurdistan in the Nineteenth Century
Sheikhs in the Service of the Official Ideology
The Eastern Trials of 1971
Two Major Fields of Activity of Military Courts
The Use of Islamist Ideology Against the Kurdish Question
The Meaning of Turk/Islam Synthesis From the Point of View of the Kurdish Issue
The Results of the Breakdown of the Class Basis of Nationalistic Ideas
Not a Ruling Class But an Agent Class
The Situation in Eastern and Southern Kurdistan
The Turkish Left and the Kurdish Question
The Concept of "Minority Racism"
The Significance of the Debate on the Mode of Production in Kurdistan
Internal Dynamics-External Factors
The Significance of Divide and Rule
The Situation of Bureaucrats and State Employees
The Situation of Members of Parliament
The Kurdish Petty Bourgeoisie
Colonial Intellectuals and Intellectuals of the Colonialist State: A Case Study
Singers
The Development of Capitalism in Kurdistan and the Kurdish National Movement
Some Comments on Progress in the "East"
The Material Basis for the Weaknesses in Kurdish Society
A. The writings of Ehmede Xani, P. Auryanot, and Cigerxwin
B. Herding and the Characteristics of the Tribal Structure
C. Kurdistan’s Position at the Crossroads of Invasions and Migrations
D. The Natural Resources of Kurdistan
E. Kurdish Tribes as a Political Structure
Why Was There No Kurdish State in the Middle East? Why was Divide and Rule Imposed on the Kurds?
What Is Meant By The Phrase "The Kurds Are Too Fond of Their Freedom"?
Village Guards: An Indication of the Weakness of Kurdish Society
How Can The Division of the Nation be Overcome?
Conclusion
Epilogue
Endnotes
APPENDED MATERIALS TO ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Names of Political Parties and Their Kurdish or Turkish Acronyms