Kurdish Alevis and the Case of Dersim

Kurdish Alevis and the Case of Dersim PDF Author: Erdal Gezik
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 1498575498
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 173

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Book Description
In contemporary Turkey, discussions on the concept of ethnicity and religiosity continue to maintain their utmost importance in politics and daily social life. In this context, Alevi and Kurdish identities have come to the fore with mass representation marked by protests and violence. In spite of the importance of Kurds and Alevis for the history of Turkey, one specific group, namely the Kurdish Alevis, has escaped the attention of the international world. Although wide interest upon the topic in the international academic sphere, there are very limited academic works about Kurdish Alevis in general. Who are the Kurdish Alevis? What are the particular conditions for its association with the Kurdish identity, Alevi religion, and the history of Turkey? What has been the role of Dersim within Kurdish Alevism? The main purpose of this edited volume, the first of its kind, is to contribute to the understanding of these and other questions. Based on six perspectives from scholars from various disciplinary, this approach will present new insights on contemporary research and discussions on the issue.

Kurdish Alevis and the Case of Dersim

Kurdish Alevis and the Case of Dersim PDF Author: Erdal Gezik
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 1498575498
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 173

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Book Description
In contemporary Turkey, discussions on the concept of ethnicity and religiosity continue to maintain their utmost importance in politics and daily social life. In this context, Alevi and Kurdish identities have come to the fore with mass representation marked by protests and violence. In spite of the importance of Kurds and Alevis for the history of Turkey, one specific group, namely the Kurdish Alevis, has escaped the attention of the international world. Although wide interest upon the topic in the international academic sphere, there are very limited academic works about Kurdish Alevis in general. Who are the Kurdish Alevis? What are the particular conditions for its association with the Kurdish identity, Alevi religion, and the history of Turkey? What has been the role of Dersim within Kurdish Alevism? The main purpose of this edited volume, the first of its kind, is to contribute to the understanding of these and other questions. Based on six perspectives from scholars from various disciplinary, this approach will present new insights on contemporary research and discussions on the issue.

The Cambridge History of the Kurds

The Cambridge History of the Kurds PDF Author: Hamit Bozarslan
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108583016
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1027

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Book Description
The Cambridge History of the Kurds is an authoritative and comprehensive volume exploring the social, political and economic features, forces and evolution amongst the Kurds, and in the region known as Kurdistan, from the fifteenth to the twenty-first century. Written in a clear and accessible style by leading scholars in the field, the chapters survey key issues and themes vital to any understanding of the Kurds and Kurdistan including Kurdish language; Kurdish art, culture and literature; Kurdistan in the age of empires; political, social and religious movements in Kurdistan; and domestic political developments in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Other chapters on gender, diaspora, political economy, tribes, cinema and folklore offer fresh perspectives on the Kurds and Kurdistan as well as neatly meeting an exigent need in Middle Eastern studies. Situating contemporary developments taking place in Kurdish-majority regions within broader histories of the region, it forms a definitive survey of the history of the Kurds and Kurdistan.

Multiple Secularities Beyond the West

Multiple Secularities Beyond the West PDF Author: Marian Burchardt
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 1614519781
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 323

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Book Description
Questions of secularity and modernity have become globalized, but most studies still focus on the West. This volume breaks new ground by comparatively exploring developments in five areas of the world, some of which were hitherto situated at the margins of international scholarly discussions: Africa, the Arab World, East Asia, South Asia, and Central and Eastern Europe. In theoretical terms, the book examines three key dimensions of modern secularity: historical pathways, cultural meanings, and global entanglements of secular formations. The contributions show how differences in these dimensions are linked to specific histories of religious and ethnic diversity, processes of state-formation and nation-building. They also reveal how secularities are critically shaped through civilizational encounters, processes of globalization, colonial conquest, and missionary movements, and how entanglements between different territorially grounded notions of secularity or between local cultures and transnational secular arenas unfold over time.

Alevi Identity

Alevi Identity PDF Author: Tord Olsson
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135797242
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 504

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Book Description
In the rising momentum for new and reformulated cultural identities, the Turkish Alevi have also emerged on the scene, demanding due recognition. In this process a number of dramatic events have served as important milestones: the clashes between Sunni and Alevi in Kahramanmaras in 1979 and Corum in 1980, the incendiarism in Sivas in 1992, and the riots in Istanbul (Gaziosmanpasa) in 1995. Less evocative, but in the long run more significant, has been the rising interest in Alevi folklore and religious practices. Questions have also arisen as to what this branch of Islamic heterodoxy represents in terms of old and new identities. In this book, these questions are addressed by some of the most prominent scholars in the field.

The Alevis in Turkey and Europe

The Alevis in Turkey and Europe PDF Author: Elise Massicard
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0415667968
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
This book examines the development of identity politics amongst the Alevis in Europe and Turkey, which simultaneously provided the movement access to different resources and challenged its unity of action. While some argue that Aleviness is a religious phenomenon, and others claim it is a cultural or a political trend, this book analyzes the various strategies of claim-making and reconstructions of Aleviness as well as responses to the movement by various Turkish and German actors. Drawing on intensive fieldwork, Elise Massicard suggests that because of activists' many different definitions of Aleviness, the movement is in this sense an "identity movement without an identity."

Ecological Solidarity and the Kurdish Freedom Movement

Ecological Solidarity and the Kurdish Freedom Movement PDF Author: Stephen E. Hunt
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1793633851
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 399

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Book Description
Ecological Solidarity and the Kurdish Freedom Movement: Thought, Practice, Challenges, and Opportunities is a pioneering text that examines the ideas about social ecology and communalism behind the evolving political structures in the Kurdish region. The collection evaluates practical green projects, including the Mesopotamian Ecology Movement, Jinwar women’s eco-village, food sovereignty in a solidarity economy, environmental defenders in Iranian Kurdistan, and Make Rojava Green Again. Contributors also critically reflect on such contested themes as Alevi nature beliefs, anti-dam demonstrations, human-rights law and climate change, the Gezi Park protests, and forest fires. Throughout this volume, the contributors consider the formidable challenges to the Kurdish initiatives, such as state repression, damaged infrastructure, and oil dependency. Nevertheless, contributors assert that the West has much to learn from the Kurdish ecological paradigm, which offers insight into social movement debates about development and decolonization.

Alevism as an Ethno-Religious Identity

Alevism as an Ethno-Religious Identity PDF Author: Celia Jenkins
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351600990
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 130

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Book Description
Until recently the importance of religion in the modern world has often been underestimated in Western societies, whereas its significance is absolutely crucial in the Middle East. Religion is critical to a sense of belonging for communities and nations, and can be a force for unity or division. This is the case for the Alevis, an ethnic and religious community that constitutes approximately 20% of the Turkish population – its second largest religious group. In the current crisis in the Middle East, the heightened religious tensions between Sunnis, Shias and Alawites raise questions about who the Alevis are and where they stand in this conflict. With an ambiguous relationship to Islam, historically Alevis have been treated as a ‘suspect community’ in Turkey and recently, whilst distinct from Alawites, have sympathised with the Assad regime’s secular orientation. The chapters in this book analyse different aspects of Alevi identity in relation to religion, politics, culture, education and national identity, drawing on specialist research in the field. The approach is interdisciplinary and contributes to wider debates concerning ethnicity, religion, migration and trans/national identity within and across ethno-religious boundaries. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the National Identities journal.

Shâmaran

Shâmaran PDF Author: Dilsa Deniz
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 1498591264
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 317

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Book Description
Shâmaran: The Neolithic Eternal Mother, Love and the Kurds covers one of the earliest ancient figures of Mother Earth, Shâmaran, of the Zagros Mountains, which is at the crossroads of Iran, Anatolia, and Mesopotamia, and has historically been a melting pot of diverse groups, contributing to the formation of the Kurdish nation. This unique convergence has played a pivotal role in shaping the rich history, culture, language, and the very essence of their homeland, Kurdistan.Shâmaran is the significant religiocultural symbol, serving as a poignant embodiment of this heritage. The book meticulously documents, deconstructs and interprets Shâmaran's myth and her Neolithic image, recognizing their profound significance as manifestations of the Mother Earth Goddess.The study details the philosophy and symbolism of her faith, deciphers the content in the region within the existing pre-Islamic Kurdish religions namely Alevism, Yarsanism, and Êzidism and Kurdish culture as a whole.

Turkey's Proxy War

Turkey's Proxy War PDF Author: Noor Dahri
Publisher: Vij Books India Pvt Ltd
ISBN: 9390439922
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
Turkey is committing crimes against humanity across a region spanning Asia, the Middle East and Africa. This book is the first to explain the machinations that the country’s leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has put in motion in his rise to power from leading the Muslim Brotherhood’s Istanbul branch to President. The atrocities being committed are ongoing and continue against a backdrop of global condemnations of the dismal security situation and violence that exists within areas controlled by Turkish forces. The book highlights the long-simmering conflict between Turkey and its Kurdish minority, which has spread further afield and resulted in the targeting of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party in Iraq even as popular discontent grows against the Erdogan regime at home and abroad. Erdogan’s murky political and military-strategic agenda is further exacerbated by Turkey’s fomentation of ISIS and deployment of the terrorist group’s militants. This book describes how Turkish intelligence operatives smuggled ISIS militias into Libya and Azerbaijan, who then carried out heinous war crimes with the intent to destabilize the region. Moreover, the desperate situation of Syrian refugees has been exploited by the Turkish administration, which has hijacked their plight in a cynical manoeuvre to exert political pressure on Europe while also routing refugees into Kurdish territory, dubbing it a “safe zone”. The Muslim world does not know enough about Erdogan’s dangerous authoritarian leadership and its grave consequences. This book aims to change that by revealing the continuity between Pan Islamism, Turkish Islamisation, and Erdogan’s proxy militias, and how those interrelationships have led to war crimes against Kurdish people in Iraq and Syria.

The Kurds in Erdogan's "New" Turkey

The Kurds in Erdogan's Author: Nikos Christofis
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000531376
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 213

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Book Description
This book focuses on the AKP government since 2002 during which time the state’s approach to the Kurdish Question has undergone several changes. Examining what preceded and followed the failed putsch of 2016, it explains and critiques that situates the Kurdish Question in its broader context. It stands out with the main objective to avoid any ‘policy-oriented bias’ through an interdisciplinary and multi-thematic approach. The volume discusses the state and policies in the Kurdish region of Turkey, as well as counter-hegemonic discourses that seek to reform existing institutions. Some chapters focus on the domestic aspects and gender perspectives of the Kurdish Question in Turkey, which focus has been taken over by recent developments in Syria and the Middle East in general. Other chapters include a range of new aspects of Turkish society and politics, and the international aspects of Ankara’s policies and its implications not only inside Turkey but also internationally. Taking both domestic and foreign policy aspects into account, the book offers a set of innovative explanations for the state of crisis in Turkey and a solid basis for thinking about the likely path forward. Scholars, researchers and post-graduates, interested in political theory, Kurdish and Middle East politics will find this book invaluable.