‘The eye of the beholder’: Öcalan’s reading of Turkish political history

Bahadır Türk H. B.

Middle Eastern Studies, cilt.58, sa.4, ss.540-552, 2022 (SSCI) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 58 Sayı: 4
  • Basım Tarihi: 2022
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1080/00263206.2021.1956474
  • Dergi Adı: Middle Eastern Studies
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, IBZ Online, International Bibliography of Social Sciences, Periodicals Index Online, Geobase, Historical Abstracts, Index Islamicus, Jewish Studies Source, Linguistic Bibliography, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, PAIS International, Political Science Complete, Public Affairs Index, Social services abstracts, Sociological abstracts, Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.540-552
  • Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

© 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.The leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan or PKK), Abdullah Öcalan, is a controversial figure. Since the founding of the PKK in 1978, Öcalan has been the ultimate decision-maker in the organization. He resumed his role in the PKK and his influence over his followers after his imprisonment in 1999. The current study aims to analyze Öcalan’s views on Turkish political history. To accomplish this goal, the study focuses on Öcalan’s reading of Turkish political history before and after his imprisonment on İmralı in 1999. Seeking to demonstrate the differences and similarities in Öcalan’s approach to Turkish political history during these two periods, the study argues that Öcalan’s reading of Turkish political history provides insight into his political thought. Furthermore, the fluctuations in his reading of this history are also a byproduct of Öcalan’s attempt to rethink the Kurdish question and the position of the PKK.