Turkey and the Kurds: a game theoretic approach to strategy and policy

Download
Author
Jawed, Muhammad Ahsan
Akin, Enes
Date
2015-06Advisor
Strawser, Bradley J.
Second Reader
Naficy, Siamak T.
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
This thesis analyzes the conditions under which the Turkish-Kurdish ethnic conflict can be resolved. The Turkish government’s determination to solve the Turkish-Kurdish problem through negotiations, while avoiding violence since the start of the negotiations, has created a situation favorable for addressing this century-old grievance in southeast Turkey. We use case study analyses from archives, newspapers, published reports, and books. This study covers questions of ethnicity and ethnic conflict, provides a historical account of the problem, and suggests the different courses of action available to resolve this conflict by drawing lessons from other resolved and unresolved conflicts in Ireland, Spain, and Colombia. We examine lessons from the successful peace process between the British and the Irish Republican Army, and between Spain and the Basque separatists, which can be applied to the Turkish-Kurdish case, and whether the causes of the delay in the peace process between Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia can be avoided. We also apply game theoretic modeling tools to determine the best options available to both sides (i.e., the Turkish government and the Kurdistan Workers Party in response to each other). This thesis highlights the circumstances under which the ongoing negotiation process can succeed by granting more social rights and relative autonomy to the Kurds, and by isolating the violent groups from peaceful political parties. This study has been conducted at a time when both sides have shown keen interest in resolving the issue through dialogue, and violence has significantly decreased, if not stopped altogether.
Rights
Copyright is reserved by the copyright owner.Collections
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
From denial to participation: Turkey's evolving discourse on Kurdish nationalism
Timmester, Scott K. (Monterey, California: Naval Postgraduate School, 2013-09);Kurdish nationalism has been a central issue in domestic Turkish politics since the founding of the republic nearly a century ago. Since 1984, the insurgency waged by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has claimed the lives ... -
The influence of key international actors (U.S.-E.U.) and Kemalists on Turkey's attitude toward its Kurdish minority
Oikonomopoulos, Panagiotis (Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School, 2008-06);This thesis seeks to examine the way key international actors (U.S.-E.U.) and the Kemalists have shaped and currently influence Turkey's attitude toward its Kurdish minority. The tough negotiations on Turkey's accession ... -
The sons of two fatherlands: Turkey and the North Caucasian Diaspora, 1914-1923
Gingeras, Ryan (2011);“We have citizens and co-nationals in the contemporary Turkish nation who wish to propagate notions about Kurdish-ness, Circassian-ness and even more so Laz-ness or Bosnian-ness inside of the political and social ...