One state, plural options: Kurds in the UK

Abstract

After three decades of living in their new home, Kurds in the UK have progressed from being a ‘victim diaspora’ into becoming more organised, and capable of meeting the diverse needs of their community. Most UK-based Kurds refuse to use the official legal system to settle their disputes, at least initially. Instead, they prefer to resolve their disputes within the community, and for this purpose, they have recreated their own hybridised customary justice system, consisting of the Kurdish Peace Committee (KPC). This more organised system is a first for Kurds, and is involved in the settlement of cases as diverse as family disputes and minor criminal cases.

This article examines how and why this community prefers to solve their disputes themselves instead of approaching the police or courts. This work also includes a discussion of Kurdish society, including its historical pluralistic experience, reasons for its members’ emigration from Turkey and their ethnic reconstruction in the UK. A selection of case studies are used to illustrate how this body has helped to resolve some disputes, to develop Kurdish customs and traditions under different circumstances, and to act as a bridge between the official legal system of the British society and Kurdish values and norms.

Keywords:

• Kurds
• Kurdish Peace Committee
• diaspora
• alternative dispute resolution
• transnational cases
• customary law
• legal pluralism

Acknowledgements

I am thankful to Dr Prakash Shah and Prof. Marie-Claire Foblets for their critical reading and feedback of my work. I received very valuable comments that have improved my work.

Notes

1. For example, see Olson (1989), Gunter (1990, 1997), van Bruinessen (1992), Hassanpour (1996), Kreyenbroek and Allison (1996), Vali (1998) and McDowall (2005).

2. For example, see White (2000), Kutschera (2001), Romano (2006) and Güneş (2012).

3. Gurbet is the Kurdish and Turkish word for a place where someone is displaced to, outside of her or his original homeland. It implies sadness, emotions related to the homeland and the alienation felt in the ‘temporary’ host location, especially when it cannot be known how long the exile may last. Gurbet is not directly equivalent to ‘diaspora’, since the latter refers more specifically to the community to which one belongs abroad. The concept of the ‘diaspora’ was originally used for Jews living outside Palestine (Sheffer 2002), and has subsequently been used to describe many displaced communities. I will use ‘gurbet’, especially since Werbner (2002) says ‘each diaspora is unique’ and it might be better to describe this uniqueness with a culture-specific concept.

4. For example, see Küçükcan (1999), Enneli, Modood, and Bradley (2005), Issa (2005) and Yilmaz (2005).

5. Alevis’ ‘religious’ centre or house. Since some Alevis do not consider ‘Alevi’ to be a religion, some commentators describe the Cemevi as a place for Alevis to socialise, not solely a religious centre. As van Rossum (2008, 9) says, ‘there are no holy books like the Koran’ for Alevis. Alevism includes aspects of Zoroastrianism, Bektasi Sufism, Shia Islam and Judaeo-Christianity. It has been described as not so much a religion, but rather a very liberal, secular and hybridised culture and way of life. Men and women often enjoy social activities together, even in village settings (Bayrak 1997, 10).

6. ‘Millet System’ was not a name used by the Ottomans. It was the name given to the Ottoman system by Westerners. The system allowed different ethnic and religious communities to live together without destroying or outlawing different communities’ ways of life. It was the system which allowed the Ottomans to maintain control over such a large, diverse population for so long. It has been suggested that this type of system was copied from the agreement of Medina used by the Prophet Muhammad when he took over Medina and found many different ethnic and religious groups living there. It was created to allow all communities the freedom to maintain religious practices and beliefs, as well as their own systems of law (Belge 2008, 254–7).

7. The Ottoman Sharia courts traditionally had jurisdiction over all legal matters involving Muslims, but they tended to be located in urban centres.

8. For example, M.H., S.A., Y.K. – interviews, June 2009.

9. For example, A.H., F.K., M.H. – interviews, June 2009; A.P. – interview, November 2010.

10. K.C., M.H., H.H. – interviews, June 2009.

11. Roj-TV, a transnational Kurdish satellite station, started broadcasting on 1 March 2004. Like its predecessors Med-TV and Medya-TV, Roj-TV has been accused by Turkish state authority of ‘being a mouthpiece of PKK terrorism’. Following this, the French satellite company Eutelsat decided to suspend provision of its services for Roj-TV. The broadcaster has been off the air since 23 January 2012. See Sheyholislami (2011, 2012) and Güneş (2012) for detailed discussions of the Kurdish media.

12. M.U. – interview, May 2009; A.H., F.K. – interviews, June 2009.

13. For example, H.C., F.K. – interviews, June 2009; A.P., B.E. – interviews, November 2010; A.Y. – interview, March 2011.

14. M.U. – interview, May 2009; H.C. – interview, June 2009.

15. A.H., S.A. – interviews, June 2009. KCC and Halkevi have several branches across the UK, including in north London, Croydon, Leeds, Portsmouth and Glasgow. The KPC works under the umbrella of KCC/Halkevi in north London. A more comprehensive list of Kurdish organisations in the UK can be found at http://uk.krg.org/pages/page.aspx?Ingnr=12&smap=050000&pnr=29, last accessed 13 June 2011.

16. A.H., S.A. – interviews, June 2009.

17. S.A., M.H. – interviews, June 2009.

18. See Rosowsky (2006) for attempts to reinforce the liturgical language rather than the vernacular in other ‘Muslim’ communities.

19. For example, M.U. – interview, May 2009; K.C., A.H., F.K., T.O. – interviews, June 2009.

20. M.U. – interview, May 2009; K.C., T.O. – interviews, June 2009.

21. A.H. – interview, June 2009.

22. In support of this, one of the first and best-known Kurdish television channels, MED TV, obtained a licence to broadcast from the UK in 2000. The following year, PKK was banned and listed as a terrorist organisation in the UK under the Terrorism Act 2001. Since then it has been more difficult for Kurdish people from Turkey to claim asylum in the UK.

23. KPC Judges – interviews, June 2009, November 2010 and May 2011.

24. KPC Judges – interviews, June 2009, November 2010 and May 2011.

25. For example, KPC Judges – interviews, June 2009, November 2010; M.U. – interview, May 2009; A.H. and F.K. – interviews, June 2009.

26. KPC Judges – interview, June 2009, November 2010 and May 2011.

27. KPC Judges – interview, November 2010.

28. Note the difference between the £10 charge for a case to be considered by the KPC and the charges incurred in the current UK legal system.

29. KPC Judges – interview, June 2009, November 2010.

30. KPC Judges – interview, June 2009

31. E.L. – interview, June 2009

32. KPC Judges – interview, June 2009.

33. All names in this case are pseudonyms. The information for this case is based on the plaintiffs’ oral statement to the KPC members, my observations of the KPC meeting for this case, and Adar – interview, November 2011.

34. See Banik v. Banik 1973 for an example where an Indian woman defended herself in a divorce case heard in an English court on the grounds that the divorce would cause her grave hardship (social or communal ostracism).

35. Central Criminal Court in England and Wales.

36. A KPC judge – interview, November 2010.