Politics in the Kurdish periphery: clan networks and local party strategies in a comparative perspective

ABSTRACT

Despite the return to violence and state repression in the Kurdish conflict, the ruling Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (Justice and Development Party – AKP) has remained the only alternative to the Kurdish National Movement (KNM) for Turkey's Kurdish citizens. What local-level strategies did the AKP employ in Kurdish areas to reinforce its national-level appeal to Islamic values? Under what conditions did local vote-seeking strategies help the AKP to overcome its pro-Kurdish rivals at the ballot box? This article examines the politics of local coalition building in the periphery of the Kurdish landscape – Bingöl and Muş. Despite their many similarities, the two cities voted for different political parties in national elections. This article examines how the AKP's local party organizations interacted with local authority structures, recruited influential local elites, and pursued new voters. The vitality of clan networks in parts of Bingöl enabled the AKP to build a reliable local coalition. The gradual weakening of clan networks in Muş and their permeation by the KNM prevented a similar coalition. Instead, the parties of the KNM were able to take advantage of divided clan networks to win national electoral contests in the province.

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Melani Cammett, Pauline Jones Luong, Patrick Heller, Yelena Biberman, and Ceren Belge for their comments on the earlier drafts of this article. Research for this article was supported by the Smith Richardson Foundation, Brown University, and Skidmore College, for which I am grateful.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. H. Yavuz, Secularism and Muslim Democracy in Turkey (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009).

2. H. Yavuz and N.A. Özcan, ‘Turkish Democracy and the Kurdish Question’, Middle East Policy, Vol.12, No.4 (Winter 2015), pp.73–87.

3. M. Somer, ‘Does It Take Democrats to Democratize? Lessons from Islamist and Secular Elite Values in Turkey’, Comparative Political Studies, Vol.44 (2011), pp.511–45; S. Gumuscu, ‘Class, Status, and Party: The Changing Face of Political Islam in Turkey and Egypt’, Comparative Political Studies, Vol.43 (2010), pp.835–61; Z. Onis, ‘The Political Economy of Islamic Resurgence in Turkey: The Rise of the Welfare Party in Perspective’, Third World Quarterly, Vol.18 (1997), pp.743–66.

4. H. Gülalp, ‘Globalization and Political Islam: The Social Basis of Turkey's Welfare Party’, International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol.33 (2001), pp.433–48; F. Keyman and B. Koyuncu, ‘Globalization, Alternative Modernities and the Political Economy of Turkey’, Review of International Political Economy, Vol.12 (2005), pp.105–28; C. Tugal, ‘NATO's Islamists: Hegemony and Americanization in Turkey’, New Left Review, Vol.44 (2007), pp.5–34.

5. B. Eligur, The Mobilization of Political Islam in Turkey (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010); G. Kepel, Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2002).

6. S. Zubaida, ‘Trajectories of Political Islam: Egypt, Iran and Turkey’, The Political Quarterly, Vol.71 (2000), pp.60–78.

7. Turkey evacuated more than 3000 villages and hamlets suspected of supporting the PKK during the 1980s and 1990s.

8. Dinçer, Özaslan, and Kavasoğlu, İllerin ve Bölgelerin Sosyo-ekonomik Gelişmişlik Sıralaması Araştırması (2003), Devlet Planlama Teskilati, Yayın No. DPT 2671.

9. Interviewees quoted in this article were informed that their participation would be acknowledged. The names of some interviewees are withheld due to their request for anonymity.

10. D. Karasu, Sociologist and Bingöl expert. Interviewed by author. Bingöl, 9 Oct. 2008.

11. K. Kirisci and G.M. Winrow, The Kurdish Question and Turkey: An Example of a Trans-state Ethnic Conflict (London and Portland: Frank Cass, 1997); H. Yavuz, ‘Five Stages of the Construction of Kurdish Nationalism in Turkey’, Nationalism & Ethnic Politics, Vol.7, No.3 (2001), pp.1–24; N.F. Watts, ‘Activists in Office: Pro-Kurdish Contentious Politics in Turkey’, Ethnopolitics, Vol.5, No.2 (2006), pp.125–44; G.M. Tezcür, ‘The Moderation Theory Revisited: The Case of Islamic Political Actors’, Party Politics, Vol.16, No.1 (2009), pp.69–88.

12. C. Belge, ‘State Building and the Limits of Legibility: Kinship Networks and Kurdish Resistance in Turkey,’ International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol.43, No.1 (2011), pp.95–114.

13. Bingöl DTP party branch officials. Focus group conducted by the author. Bingöl, 29 Sept. 2008.

14. S. Mollaoğlu, Bingöl Gazetesi. Interviewed by author. Bingöl, 23 Sept. 2008.

15. Ibid., S. Kaan, Bingöl Olay Gazetesi. Interviewed by author. Bingöl, 24 Sept. 2008.

16. I. Barasi, DTP official. Interviewed by author. Bingöl, 29 Sept. 2008; S. Mollaoğlu, Bingöl Gazetesi. Interviewed by author. Bingöl, 23 Sept. 2008.

17. M.Z. Gürbüz, Saadet Partisi (Felicity Party – SP) official. Interviewed by author. Bingöl, 6 Oct. 2008.

18. M. Kayaoğlu, president of the Bingöl CHP branch. Interviewed by author. Bingöl, 7 Oct. 2008.

19. S. Kaya, former mayor of Bingöl from the SHP ticket (Sosyal Demokrat Halkci Parti – Social Democrat Populist Party). Interviewed by author. Bingöl, 14 Oct. 2008.

20. S. Mollaoğlu, Bingöl Gazetesi. Interviewed by author. Bingöl, 23 Sept. 2008.

21. M. Kayaoğlu, president of the Bingöl CHP branch. Interviewed by author. Bingöl, 7 Oct. 2008.

22. S. Kaan, Bingöl Olay Gazetesi. Interviewed by author. Bingöl, 24 Sept. 2008.

23. F. Berdibek, former parliamentarian and local AKP leader. Interviewed by author. Bingöl, 4 Oct. 2008.

24. Ibid.

25. D. Karasu, Sociologist and Bingöl expert. Interviewed by author. Bingöl, 9 Oct. 2008.

26. H. Ketenalp, Mayor of Bingöl. Interviewed by author. Bingöl, 6 Oct. 2008.

27. B. Seckin, President of Bingöl Chamber of Commerce. Interviewed by author. Bingöl, 4 Oct. 2008.

28. Egitim-Sen. Educational Workers Union members and DTP Activists, Bingöl Egitim-Sen branch. Focus group conducted by the author. 3 Oct. 2008.

29. C. Danış, Muş Ovası Gazetesi. Interviewed by author. Muş, 21 Oct. 2008; E. Özbey, Haber 49 Gazetesi. Interviewed by author. Muş, 21 Oct. 2008.

30. E. Bektaş, Governor of Muş Province. Interviewed by author. Muş, 30 Oct. 2008.

31. Human Rights Association official, Muş branch. Interviewed by author. Muş, 25 Oct. 2008.

32. DTP provincial officials focus group, names withheld due to interviewees’ request. Interviewed by author. Muş, 28 Oct. 2008.

33. Saadet Partisi official and Zaza Clan member. Name withheld due to interviewee request. Interviewed by author. Muş, 24 Oct. 2008.

34. Ramazan Bey and Sakir Bey, AKP members. Interviewed by author. Muş, 25 Oct. 2008.

35. E. Özbey, Haber 49 Gazetesi. Interviewed by author. Muş, 21 Oct. 2008.

36. Ramazan Bey and Sakir Bey, AKP members. Interviewed by author. Muş, 25 Oct. 2008.

37. Saadet Partisi official and Zaza Clan member. Name withheld due to interviewee request. Interviewed by author. Muş, 24 Oct. 2008.

38. T. Çanga, Muş'un Sesi Gazetesi. Interviewed by author. Muş, 22 Oct. 2008.

39. Ramazan Bey and Sakir Bey, AKP members. Interviewed by author. Muş, 25 Oct. 2008.

40. D. Memiş, Deputy Mayor of Muş. Interviewed by author. Muş, 25 Oct. 2008.

41. Muharrem Armağan, President of AKP's Muş Organization. Interviewed by author. Muş, 23 Oct. 2008; Fikriye Hanim, Member of the AKP Women's Organization. Interviewed by author. Bingöl, 6 Oct. 2008.

42. S. Mollaoğlu, Bingöl Gazetesi. Interviewed by author. Bingöl, 23 Sept. 2008.