The Kurdish Question in Turkey in 2009-2011: A Conflict (Not) Ripe for a Resolution?
Abstract
The case study deals with the attempted resolution of the conflict between
the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Turkish state during the rule of
the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2009–2011. William Zartman’s
theory of ripeness is applied to the case. The study analyses the state of the
conflict and subsequently determines if the state of the conflict increases
the chances of a negotiated peaceful resolution to the conflict (i.e. whether
the conflict is in a state of ripeness). The analysis indicates that the conflict
did not fulfil the criteria of ripeness in the examined period. An alternative
explanation of particular positive steps and the rhetoric in the conflict is
provided primarily by connecting them with an attempt to politically
marginalize the PKK.
Keywords
AKP, conflict resolution, Justice and Development Party, Kurdistan Wokers' Party, PKK, ripeness theory, Turkey
Author Biography
Tomáš Kaválek
Tomáš Kaválek, born in 1990, he is a Ph.D. candidate at the Department of Political Science of the Faculty of Social Studies at the Masaryk University in Brno, Czech
Republic. He also works as a Middle East and North Africa Analyst at the
Prague-based think-tank Association for International Affairs (AMO). In
2015, he spent six months as a visiting researcher at the Marmara
University Research Center for International Relations (MURCIR) in Istanbul,
and also as an intern in the conflict-prevention organization International
Crisis Group (ICG). In 2016-17, he worked as a visiting fellow at the Erbil-based think-tank Middle East Research Institute (MERI). This author
specializes in the Middle East region, especially Kurdish politics.
Tomáš Šmíd
Tomáš Šmíd, born in 1979, he graduated from Masaryk University in Brno (majoring in
Political Science and History). He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science. He is the
author or co-author of a number of monographs, studies and articles. In
2009/2010 he was a research intern at MGIMO MID RF in Moscow, and in
2010/2011 he was a Fulbright-Masaryk Fellow at the Central Asia-Caucasus
Institute (CACI) of the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), the
Johns Hopkins University, Washington, D.C. He focuses on armed conflict research, organized crime and security issues in the post-Soviet area,
especially in the Caucasus.