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'Another Middle East is Possible!' Turkey's Kurdish Movement's Capitalization of the Social Forum. Instrument for Internal Change or Internationalization of the Cause
Abstract
Turkey's Kurdish Movement is no longer bounded by any borders, so it seems. Whereas the PKK's armed wing always found a hinterland in neighbouring countries, today the Kurdish movement is stretched beyond what has been traditionally defined as the Kurdish regions. With strong transnational relations and exchange with its European Kurdish Diaspora, as well the growing number of Kurdish satellite chains and internet sites, some have come to speak of a growing transnational political space for the Kurds. This growing transnational political space has, without doubt, created new opportunities for the internationalization of Turkey's Kurdish issue and the Kurdish cause as defended by its main propagators, the PKK and BDP. One of the means to raise public awareness about the plight of the Kurds has been the Kurdish movements' enlisting into the Anti-Globalization movement that started at the end of the 1990s. Kurdish politicians and civil society representatives have figured actively in the European Social Forums held in the 2000s. In late September 2009 the European Social Forum was invited to hold its preparatory meeting for the ESF Istanbul 2010 in Diyarbakir. Following this, the first Mesopotamia Social Forum was held in Diyarbakir. The meeting intended to bring together different groups and peoples from the Middle East in order to develop solidarity against what were called 'all forms of dominations and injustices'. This paper engages with the rationale of the Kurdish movement's engagement with the social fora. The paper will put to question if this engagement is indeed contributing to the internationalization of the cause, or if, as a closer reading of the social fora participation suggest, it might be considered as another means to put into practice the new ideological project as advocated by the PKK's leadership. If so, it can be considered a way to reinforce the local socio-political developments in the BDP-run municipalities that are inspired by it, ultimately giving shape to an alternative authority that has been developing in Turkey's Southeast. The data for this paper were collected through participatory observation in the fora and extensive interviews with the main organizers of the Mesopotamia Social Forum, both in Turkey and Europe.
Discipline
Political Science
Geographic Area
Turkey
Sub Area
Transnationalism