Historical roots of terrorism and challenges to Turkey�s territorial sovereignty
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Authors
Burke, Emily A.
Subjects
Turkey
Republic ofTurkey
Kurdistan Workers‘ Party
PKK
ASALA
Counterterrorism Policy
Foreign Policy
Treaty of Sèvres
Sèvres Syndrome
Republic ofTurkey
Kurdistan Workers‘ Party
PKK
ASALA
Counterterrorism Policy
Foreign Policy
Treaty of Sèvres
Sèvres Syndrome
Advisors
Gingeras, Ryan
Date of Issue
2014-09
Date
Sep-14
Publisher
Monterey, California: Naval Postgraduate School
Language
Abstract
This thesis examines the historical roots and significance ofTurkey‘s decades-long struggle with terrorism. It argues that current perceptions of terrorism inTurkey are due to historical challenges to the country‘s territorial sovereignty. These challenges are rooted in the aborted Treaty of Sèvres at the end of World War I. Framed as a historical survey, this thesis concludes that terrorism inTurkey has been perceived as a threat to the territorial integrity of the state due to the legacy of territorial loss during the end of the Ottoman Empire and the nationalist separatist movements during the early Republican period. Although significantly different from early separatist movements, the threats posed by the Kurdistan Workers‘ Party (PKK) and the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) have been interpreted as an outgrowth of the irredentism and imperialism embedded in the Treaty of Sèvres. AsTurkey encounters new threats from religiously-motivated terrorism, policymakers continue to view separatist terror as the foremost threat and a continuation of this historical trend.
Type
Thesis
Description
Series/Report No
Department
National Security Affairs
Organization
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
Sponsors
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Citation
Distribution Statement
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.