Transnational insurgent groups operate within a dual system of receiving economic, political, and manpower support and garnering new sources of support for their sustainability and growth. Scholars of civil conflict have examined the provision of support to insurgent groups from outside sources (such as diasporas, NGOs, and foreign governments) and insurgent group strategies of garnering local support and how both of these affect group behavior and structure. Less has been done, however, to examine how insurgents project and market to potential sources of support which exist outside their operational area. One of the ways in which groups promote is by stating their grievances and proposed solutions through a collective action frame. These frames also function as a call to action and support of their cause. While ample evidence suggests that the construction of groups’ collective action frames is influenced by certain economic, demographic, and political variables for the sake of effectiveness, this project suggests another variable, proximity, may also have an effect and asks, “does target audience proximity to a conflict affect the promoted collective action frame of a transnational insurgent group?” Extant work on how and why proximity to a conflict affects outside allies’ decisions to support an insurgency suggests that a reciprocal may exist: that the proximity of a target audience to the conflict affects insurgent group framing for the sake of effective promotion. To examine the possible effects of proximity on an insurgent group’s framing, research is conducted among the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran (PDKI) in the cities of Koysinjaq and Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan, Paris, France, and in Washington, D.C. Framing shifts are viewed through the analytical lenses of diagnostic, prognostic, and mobilizing framing processes to analyze the types of publicized frames used by the PDKI and if/how they shift as a result of proximity. Research is conducted among co-ethnics (Kurds), who are members of the PDKI, non-member supporters, and those who are neither members nor supporters but have had contact with the PDKI and/or their promotional efforts. Formal interviews comprise a majority of the research, but observation and participant observation is conducted at PDKI events, gatherings, and meetings. These efforts are supplemented through primary source research associated with the group in a variety of media identifying possible shifts in framing strategy, intended shifts in framing strategy, and how those intentions are perceived and received by the target populations.

The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has been the main driver of Kurdish political identity since its foundation in 1970’s. However, the PKK’s identity has been transforming over the years of its struggle against the Turkish state. First, it was founded as a Marxist Leninist organization, (Imset, 1992). With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the PKK removed Marxist symbols from its flags and adopted a Kurdish Nationalist identity. (Gunter, 2015) Right after 9/11 when the United States launched a global war camping against terrorism, the organization has yet again, revised its ideology, dropped its nationalist claim, and adopted “Confederalist Democratic Union” ideals to pursue them as a new goal (Ocalan, 2011). Syrian civil war has opened a new avenue for the organization. With its Syrian wing, the Democratic Union Party (PYD) the PKK, as the umbrella organization of Kurdish political movement has entered a new stage, founding, and running an autonomous territory in Syria. Despite the fact that Pro-PKK political elites had experience running local municipalities in Turkey since the 1990’s it is the first time a PKK affiliate network is not only running a local government, but also controlling a territory. In addition, the PKK affiliated PYD has been cooperating with the United States against ISIS, which the PKK had long criticized the US for helping Turkey and arresting Abdullah Ocalan, its founder back in 1999. The new political dynamics in the Middle East and the PYD’s partnership with the United States has been transforming the PKK’s identity into adapting statist and internationalist rhetoric. This paper examines the transformation of the PKK’s ideology, from Marxism to becoming a vital partner of the US, and its impact on Kurdish political identity. Abdullah Ocalan’s books, court testimonies are the primary sources of this paper to examine the PKK’s early ideology. Major PKK media outlets, such as Serxwebun, Yeni Ozgur Politica, and PKK leaders statements, interviews, and speeches are analyzed to examine the second stage of the ideological transformation of the PKK. As for the third stage of the transformation, Pro-PKK media outlets, PYD officials, Kurdish political leaders, and PKK leaders statements are examined. The major methodology is the case study for which content analysis of the media outlets and in-depth interviews with pro-PKK journalist and political figures have been conducted to identify the component of new identity formation in Rojava and its impact on greater Kurdistan.

As the Arab Spring dramatically transformed the political landscape in the Middle East, the previously forgotten Kurds of Syria suddenly emerged as potential game changers in the region. After proclaiming de facto autonomy in northern Syria in November 2013, Syrian Kurds started a radical experiment in democracy which made women’s liberation an utmost priority. Contrary to the revolutions in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya where women’s question remained marginal during the process of post-revolutionary state-building, the movement in Rojava (Syrian Kurdistan) emerged as a women-led revolution. This paper analyzes the feminist revolution in Rojava from the perspective of post-colonial feminism with a focus on the challenges and criticisms it poses for Western liberal feminists. Since the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in 2014, the West paid increasing attention to women fighting ISIS in the ranks of Kurdish forces. While the Western engagement with Kurdish female fighters provided the Kurdish national cause with greater visibility in the Western scholarly and policy circles, these engagements remained largely limited to the military aspect of women’s role in Rojava. What the present work views problematic is the refusal of Western feminists to engage with the long history of Kurdish nationalist struggle, politics and feminist practices. For some Western liberal feminists, Kurdish women are the new symbols of women’s liberation in the Middle East due to their militaristic engagements with ISIS, while for others, their struggle is non-feminist in nature because of their use of violence. What all these representations have in common is that they depoliticize Kurdish women’s cause and reduce them to ahistorical warriors fighting against bad guys. Within this framework, the paper first engages with the history of Kurdish feminist practices and explains what the broader political project in Rojava entails. Second, the paper moves towards critically analyzing various representations of Kurdish female fighters in Western media and feminist scholarship. The critical analysis of these representations draws mainly on post-colonial feminist literature, particularly Chandra Mohanty’s critical approach towards the production of “Third World Woman” in Western feminist texts. Methodologically, the paper adopts a critical discourse analysis perspective which allows for an understanding of how Kurdish women are invoked and linguistically generated in Western feminist texts and talks. The paper concludes with justifying why it is important for the West to enter into a conversation with Kurdish women in the context of the importance of building transnational feminist dialogues.