ABSTRACT
The history of the Kurds in Turkey is fraught with deprivation, unrest and oppression. The Kurdish uprisings that shook the first years of the young republic, from Sheik Said’s Kurdish–Islamic revolt in 1925 to the Dersim insurgency and subsequent massacres of 1937–8, left the state elite mistrustful of the Kurdish population while instilling a bitter resentment toward the Kemalist regime among the latter. Kurdish intellectuals began to re-voice their discontent in the 1960s, by forming groups within the Turkish Workers’ Party (TIP) or by initiating parties and periodicals. The Eastern Meetings that took place in 1967–9 were crucial in formulating and promoting Kurdish national consciousness. However, the 1971 coup by ultimatum halted the institutionalization of the Kurdish movement, thrusting it underground. The TIP was closed; dozens of Kurdish leaders were imprisoned and tortured. This resulted in the radicalization of the Kurdish movement. The PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) was founded as a secret armed movement in 1978. Once again, the 1980 coup was what provoked the most radical reactions among the Kurdish population. The Diyarbakır prison is now known to be the most atrocious of Turkish prisons where daily torture incited hunger strikes and self-molestations by Kurdish inmates. The mainstream press remained at best indifferent. When the PKK launched its first attacks against army outposts in the south-eastern regions, it was branded a terrorist organization with foreign backing. Eleven provinces were, however, placed under emergency rule in 1987 and a ‘low-intensity war’ ensued until the 1999 capture of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan.
