Turkish Culture and its Influence on the Counter-Insurgency Campaign Against the Kurdistan Worker's Part (PKK)

Turkish Culture had a profound influence on the conduct of its counter-insurgency campaign against the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK). The variables shaping Turkey's response to the insurgency were a unique brand of nationalism, Islamic traditions, aspirations towards Westernization, and political legacies from the Ottoman Empire. Based on these variables, the culturally accepted response to Kurdish nationalism and separatism was a militarily dominated strategy of suppression. The Kurds, for their part, leveraged the inconsistencies found in the inherent Turkish cultural tensions and military response to propagate their struggle. Multi-disciplined programs, fostering true democracy, an integrated strategy, and use of existing Kurdish social and political structures must be incorporated in a new approach by the Turkish government. American policymakers can derive three lessons: pragmatism must override dogma, conflict resolution requires understanding and leveraging of cultural dynamics and complex problems require multi-disciplined approaches.

Author: School of Advances Military Studies

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Publication Date: Jun 03, 2014

Number of Pages: 72 pages

Binding: Paperback or Softback

ISBN-10: 1499762461

ISBN-13: 9781499762464