History of Turkish Occupation of Northern Kurdistan.

Poli. Sci. (Third World Politics)

11/27/96

History of Turkish Occupation of Northern Kurdistan.

Since 1984, and especially the last few months, the domestic problems of a

major N.A.T.O, Middle Eastern, and American ally state have come to the

forefront of the international news scene. That state is the Republic of Turkey

and it's primary troubles stem from the past seven decades of acrimonious

policies directed at the indigenous ethnic Kurds. The main problem, now, is the

Kurdish popular insurgency on it's hands, in Turkish occupied Northern

Kurdistan. The Kurdish question has long been covered up and denied by the

state of Turkey, but recent events has forced Turkey to concede that it has a

serious Kurdish insurgency on its hands. Turkey's inability to deal with this

situation is the result of the past seventy years of cultural, political, and

human rights abuses directed against the Kurdish population. In fact, this

'separatism' is so out of hand that the Turkish government has incessantly

appealed to it's allies and advisories alike to help counter the escalating

Kurdish asperation to succeed from the Turkish republic.

"The Dogs of War" - a Punch cartoon from June 17, ...

Naval officers standing with William Morris Hughes

Turkeys in Folsom

Turkey's sputtering

and deteriorating economy is directly related to the long Kurdish struggle for

independence. Turkey has spent over eight billion dollars or twenty percent of

her GDP to combat the ever deteriorating predicament in northern Kurdistan, and

should spend more in the future(Laber). Because of the violence, the once

prosperous tourist business of Turkey, has now lost about $1.5 billion dollars

annually since 1990. Many people now talk openly of another possible military

coup, there were three major military coups during the last thirty years

(Alister) These circumstances in the state of Turkey have also hurt her

chances of ever joining the ever wealthy European Union and battering its

ailing economic situation. The depth of Turkey's domestic...