Labelling Ethno-Political Groups as Terrorists

The Case of the PKK in Türkiye
1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-1-041-10900-6
Verlag: Routledge

Buch, Englisch, 278 Seiten, Format (B × H): 161 mm x 240 mm, Gewicht: 584 g

Reihe: Routledge Critical Terrorism Studies

This book examines the impact of applying the “terrorist” label to a group’s choice to resort to violence within an ethnonationalist conflict.

Using the Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê (PKK) in Türkiye as a primary case study, the book interrogates the socio-political ramifications of the Turkish government’s decision to label the PKK as a terrorist organisation. Drawing on longitudinal interviews, newly opened Turkish and Kurdish archives, media frame databases, and casualty logs, it maps five decisive moments: the 1984 guerrilla launch; Abdullah Öcalan’s 1999 arrest; the 2012–2015 peace talks; Kobani’s stand against ISIS in 2015 in a town in Syria; and the 2025 stand down. Furthermore, the study’s empirical analysis and discussions reveal that the invocation of the label “terrorist” against the PKK places the group’s actors and sympathisers in a situation that makes it harder for them to engage in peaceful means of resolving the conflict. Using four waves of interviews with Kurds in Türkiye and Syria spanning over a decade, the book offers dynamic insights into how attitudes towards the PKK and the “terrorist” label have shifted over time.

This book will be of interest to students and scholars of terrorism and political violence, ethnic conflict, critical security studies, and international relations.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate, Professional Reference, and Undergraduate Advanced

Autoren/Hrsg.

Seloom, Muhanad

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Internationale Beziehungen
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Naher & Mittlerer Osten
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Militärwesen Nationale und Internationale Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Kultur Menschenrechte, Bürgerrechte
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften Interdisziplinär Friedens- und Konfliktforschung
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Kultur Staatsbürgerkunde, Staatsbürgerschaft, Zivilgesellschaft
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Gewalt Terrorismus, Religiöser Fundamentalismus
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Ideologien Nationalismus

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction

1 Labels in Conflict Discourse

2 The Labelling–Securitisation Nexus

3 The PKK: Transnational Kurdish Politics in Türkiye, Iraq, Iran, and Syria

4 The PKK: From Formation to Peace Negotiations

5 Securitising Kurdish Identity: How the “Terrorist” Label Shapes the PKK in Tükiye

6 Women’s Participation in the PKK: From Guerrilla Beginnings to a Transnational Movement

7 Mediating the Terrorist Label: Turkish and International Coverage of the PKK (2011–2025)

8 Beyond the PKK: Transferability and Limits of the Terrorist Designation

9 From “Terrorist” Label to Conflict Transformation

Conclusion: De-labelling, De-securitisation, and Pathways Beyond the “Terrorist” Paradigm

Über Autor(innen)

Muhanad Seloom is Assistant Professor of Critical Security Studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, Qatar. He is also a researcher with the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Exeter.