Another look at East and Southeast of Turkey

This book is a travel guide to eastern Turkey / Turkey’s Kurdistan (also called north Kurdistan) with an ethnographic overview of the fifteen provinces largely populated Kurdish region in Turkey in English, Turkish, and Kurdish (Kurmanji) languages in Istanbul. This book seems at first to be a travel guide to these historic areas but it goes far beyond a conventional travel guide and attempts to move readers away from the stereotypical impressions of the region, to show that the area is not only known because of military conflict, but because it has a very long and glorious history.

“Another Look at East and Southeast Turkey “, a tourism book, contains ethnographic information and first-hand information on celebrations, customs, myths, beliefs, language, clothing, food, building, and architectural decoration as well as archaeological sites and attempts to introduce readers to unknown locations in eastern and southeastern Turkey that have long been involved in the civil war with the central government. A significant population of Armenians lived in the area before 1920, but after the Ottoman invasion, many had to leave their homes with the help and persuasion of some Kurds and never found a way to return. This massive population displacement, even referred to as the Armenian genocide, has been studied in the present book. It gave rise changes in the names of the villages, and the destruction of churches and centers attributed to the Armenians. In many cases, the names of the villages were changed from Armenian to Turkish and later even Kurdish names were changed to Turkish so that the well-known Turkish nationalist slogan was observed, understood and received as “one nation, one language and one flag”.

These areas have been subjected to intense civil war between the Kurds and the central government for thirty years, and at the height of these conflicts, the 1990s saw significant damage to cultural, historical, and humanitarian centers that led to the expulsion of Kurds from their villages and even migration to Turkey. The lack of economic development and systematic discrimination have made the Kurdish regions one of the most deprived provinces in Turkey. However, improving livelihoods and reducing fragile military and peacekeeping conflicts in recent years have had positive effects on the expansion and development of these areas, but Turkey’s Kurdistan still awaits full political and economic development.

InTurkish:

DOGU VE GUNEYDOGU YA FARKLI BIR BAKIS

Türkiye Kürdistanı’ndaki Kürtlerin çoğunlukta olduğu on beş vilayetin etnografik görünümünü içeren bu kitap, 2009 yılında İngilizce ve Türkçe olarak İstanbul’da yayınlandı. Görünüşte söz konusu bölgelere bir gezi kitabı niteliğinde olan bu kitap, bir gezi kitabı ötesinde bir işleve sahip olup, bölgenin kadim ve şanlı tarihine değinerek, izleyicinin zihninde kurgulanan “geri kalmışlık ve sürekli askeri çatışmaların varlığı” kavramlarını yeniden canlandırmaya çalışmıştır. “Doğu ve Güneydoğu Türkiye’ye bir başka bakış”, etnografik bilgiler içeren, kutlamalar, örf ve adetler, mitler, inançlar, dil, giyim, yemek, mimari ve bina dekorasyonları ve antik alanlar hakkında birinci elden ve özgün bilgiler veren ve Türkiye’nin doğu ve güneydoğusundaki (Bakur veya Kuzey Kürdistan olarak da bilinen) ve merkezi hükümetle uzun süredir iç savaş yaşayan Türkiye Kürdistanı bölgesindeki bilinmeyen yerleri bulmaya çalışan bir turizm kitabıdır. 1920’den önce bu bölgelerde yerleşenlerin önemli bir kısmı Ermeniydi, ancak Osmanlı hükümet ordusunun bazı Kürt Hanlerin yardım ve teşvikiyle saldırısından sonra, çoğu evlerini terk etmek zorunda kalıp bir daha geri dönemediler. Köy isimlerinin değiştirilmesine, kiliselerin ve merkezlerin yıkılmasına neden olan olay daha önce Ermenilere atfedilmiş biliniyordu. Birçok durumda köy isimleri Ermeniceden Türkçeye, hatta daha sonra Kürtçe isimler bile Türkçeye çevrilerek Türkiye’nin meşhur milliyetçi sloganı olan “tek millet, tek dil, tek bayrak”ın bu alanda hakimiyeti görülebilsin. Ermeni Soykırımı olarak bile anılan bu kitlesel nüfus göçü bu kitapta inceleniyor. Otuz yıl öncesinden bugüne kadar bu bölgelerde Kürtler ile merkezi hükümet arasında şiddetli bir iç savaş yaşanmış ve bu çatışmalar yoğunlaşınca, yani doksanlarda yine kültürel, tarihi mekanlar ve insan toplulukları zarar görmüştür. Bu yıkımlar, Kürtlerin köylerinden sürülmesine, yerinden edilmesine ve hatta Türkiye dışına göç etmesine yol açtı. Son yıllarda geçim kaynaklarının iyileştirilmesi ve askeri çatışmaların ve kırılgan barışın azalması bu bölgelerin genişlemesi ve gelişmesi üzerinde olumlu etkiler bıraksa da, ekonomik az gelişmişlik ve sistematik ayrımcılık, Kürt bölgelerinin Türkiye’nin en yoksun illerinden biri olarak kalmasına neden oldu, ancak Türkiye Kürdistanı inkar edilemez bir şekilde hala siyasi, kültürel ve ekonomik kalkınma açılımları bekliyor. This book is a travel guide to eastern Turkey / Turkey’s Kurdistan (also called north Kurdistan) with an ethnographic overview of the fifteen provinces largely populated Kurdish region in Turkey in English, Turkish, and Kurdish (Kurmanji) languages in Istanbul. This book seems at first to be a travel guide to these historic areas but it goes far beyond a conventional travel guide and attempts to move readers away from the stereotypical impressions of the region, to show that the area is not only known because of military conflict, but because it has a very long and glorious history. “Another Look at East and Southeast Turkey “, a tourism book, contains ethnographic information and first-hand information on celebrations, customs, myths, beliefs, language, clothing, food, building, and architectural decoration as well as archaeological sites and attempts to introduce readers to unknown locations in eastern and southeastern Turkey that have long been involved in the civil war with the central government. A significant population of Armenians lived in the area before 1920, but after the Ottoman invasion, many had to leave their homes with the help and persuasion of some Kurds and never found a way to return. This massive population displacement, even referred to as the Armenian genocide, has been studied in the present book. It gave rise changes in the names of the villages, and the destruction of churches and centers attributed to the Armenians. In many cases, the names of the villages were changed from Armenian to Turkish and later even Kurdish names were changed to Turkish so that the well-known Turkish nationalist slogan was observed, understood and received as “one nation, one language and one flag”. These areas have been subjected to intense civil war between the Kurds and the central government for thirty years, and at the height of these conflicts, the 1990s saw significant damage to cultural, historical, and humanitarian centers that led to the expulsion of Kurds from their villages and even migration to Turkey. The lack of economic development and systematic discrimination have made the Kurdish regions one of the most deprived provinces in Turkey. However, improving livelihoods and reducing fragile military and peacekeeping conflicts in recent years have had positive effects on the expansion and development of these areas, but Turkey’s Kurdistan still awaits full political and economic development.