Turkey & The Kurds
"Settlement or escalating conflict?"
Piotr Zalewski and Ekrem Eddy Güzeldere examine the Kurds' status in Turkey, and whether the troubled region in the country’s Southeast is on the verge of a more violent conflict.
Please contact us if you are interested in a tailor-made tour.
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Experts
Ekrem Eddy Güzeldere
Ekrem Eddy Güzeldere works as a political analyst for the European Stability Initiative, a think tank that studies political and social change in Turkey and its relations with the EU. He is based in ESI’s...
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Piotr Zalewski
Piotr Zalewski is the Turkey correspondent for Polityka, Poland’s bestselling news magazine, and an editor at European Stability Initiative, a think tank that studies Turkish EU relations.
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Tour
With guerilla attacks and army strikes against PKK positions in northern Iraq on the rise, the Kurdish question remains the most serious challenge to Turkey’s domestic stability. It has also become an important issue in Turkey’s foreign policy, factoring heavily into the country’s EU accession bid and its relations with Syria, Iraq and Iran.
Turkey’s treatment of the Kurds remains one of the most important obstacles to the country’s democratisation. For most of the past nine decades the state denied the Kurds their rights and suppressed their political movements. Until the 1980s it denied their very existence. Over the past decade Turkey’s EU ambitions have helped to lift some restrictions. But many remain. Kurdish for example can be used on TV but teaching in any language other than Turkish is still forbidden.
To deliver unique insight into the Kurdish issue in Turkey, this study tour visits both Istanbul and Diyarbakir, the urban heart of the Kurdish Southeast, and includes meetings with prominent Turkish and Kurdish academics, journalists, NGO activists and politicians. It is pitched at people with a serious interest in Turkish politics, as well newcomers to Turkish affairs who want a stimulating and insightful break in the region.
This tour will number 8 to 18 people. If we are unable to reach the minimum number we may cancel the tour and make a full refund.
Tour Itinerary
Day 1 Arrival in Istanbul Dinner and Bosphorus Cruise. Meet fellow participants and briefing on tour ahead with Ekrem Güzeldere and Piotr Zalewski.
Day 2 Istanbul and the Kurds Istanbul is home to a strong Kurdish community, and home to a newfound confidence and cultural identity. Briefings on the Kurds in Turkey from the Istanbul Kurdish Institute. Lunch. Visit to Kurt Kav, a Kurdish cultural foundation and meeting with one of its founders, Fehim Isik. Tour of Tarlabasi, a Kurdish neighbourhood with Constanze Letsch, an urban migration expert. Dinner in an Istanbul Tavern.
Day 3 Changing Rights and Perceptions Briefing with German Heinrich Boll Foundation, which actively supports Kurdish NGOs. Meeting with Nurcan Kaya, Minority Rights Group International. Kaya runs the MRG office in Istanbul, covering minority issues in Turkey and Cyprus. Lunch at a Cihangir restaurant. Sightseeing in Istanbul. Meeting at Karaköy – travel by boat to the Anatolian shore and dinner with Turkish and Kurdish rights activists.
Day 4 The Army’s role, Flight to Diyarbakir. Briefing by Umit Kardas, a former military judge turned critic who investigated abuses by the armed forces. Flight to Diyarbakir. Guided walking tour with Abdullah Demirbas, Mayor of Sur: lost multiculturalism, rebuilding the old town with EU support, the Armenian Church, former Chaldean patriarchate and Ulu Mosque. Dinner with Yilmaz Akinci, an Al Jazeera correspondent: an introduction to Diyarbakir and the Kurdish issue.
Day 5 Rural development and Rights Field visit to a project of the Development Centre in a village near Diyarbakir. Lunch in the village, transfer back to Diyarbakir. Visit to the Diyarbakir Cultural Centre (DSM). Melike Coskun on the revival of Kurdish culture and bringing international art to Diyarbakir. Screening of Min Dit, a recent film about extrajudicial killings in the Southeast. Dinner with human rights lawyers.
Day 6 Education, the Economy and Political Parties. Meeting with Kurdi-der, an association campaigning for Kurdish language education. Visit to a local school, discussion with pupils, teachers and director. Lunch at the school with Kurdish journalists from Dicle News Agency and Azadiya Welat, the only Kurdish daily. Meeting with Galip Ensarioglu, president of the Diyarbakir Chamber of Commerce, and Dimer, the largest marble company in Diyarbakir at Sümerpark: Diyarbakir’s economy and guided visit of the Diyarbakir Industrial Zone. Dinner with BDP and AKP local politicians: Who represents the Kurds?
Day 7 Water, the Ilisu Dam, Return to Istanbul Visit to Hasankeyf, ancient city and proposed site of the controversial Ilisu Dam. Briefing on water as a strategic political policy; water and Kurdish issue. Visit to the site, lunch with local activists. Screening of a short documentary. Afternoon flight to Istanbul.
Essential information
How to make your booking.
You can make a booking by contacting Political Tours directly by phone on 0834 289 2349 or by filling the booking form on the Book Tour button.
To reserve a place on a tour please complete the booking form and send it to Political Tours Ltd together with your non-refundable deposit of 15% of the total holiday cost or £250 per person (whichever is the greater) made payable to Political Tours Limited.
If you are booking less than 8 weeks prior to departure the full cost of the tour is payable.
If you would like to contact Political Tours’ Director, Nicholas Wood, he can be reached by email at nicholaswood@politicatours.com or by mobile phone on +44 7855 266 151.
What is included in the tour.
The price includes accommodation in 4-5 star hotels in Istanbul and Ankara as well as all meals during the visit. All the accommodation includes private bathrooms.
Please be aware that Political Tours is a land only tour operator. Our clients travel from many countries and the costs of flights to and from the destination are not included in the price.
How to reach the destination.
There are regular daily flights between the two airports in Istanbul, Atatürk and Sabiha Gökcen, to most British airports, including London (Heathrow, Gatwick Stansted and Luton) Birmingham, Manchester as well several major international airports including Paris, Berlin, Rome (Fiumicino), Brussels, Warsaw. New York, Geneva, Barcelona and Stockholm.
A taxi from Atatürk Airport to the hotel costs 40 TL (20 Euros); a taxi from Sabiha Gökcen Airport should cost circa 80 TL (40 Euros). There are also shuttle busses (Havas) to Taksim square (near the hotel) from both airports for 10 or 14 TL (5 or 7 Euros).
Climate + Clothing suggestions
In May temperatures in Istanbul and Ankara are relatively mild, reaching 20-25 degrees Celsius during the day. However, there is occasional rainfall.
Passports, Visa and Health
All clients are personally responsible for ensuring that they have a valid passport, relevant visa/s and conform to the health regulations required by the country/s that will be visited during the tour.
Citizens of the European Economic Area, the United States and Canada are not required to obtain visas in their home country in order to travel to Turkey. However, some nationals are required to purchase a tourist visa on arrival at the airport. The cost of the tourist visa varies from 15-30 USD, although Canadian citizens must pay 60 USD. For more information, see http://www.mfa.gov.tr/visa-information-for-foreigners.en.mfa
Advice on health requirements may be obtained from your GP, or alternatively from the Department of Health leaflet Advice on Health for Travelers, which may be obtained from us, or the Department of Health in the UK.
Personal Safety
Istanbul compared to most major cities in Europe and the USA is relatively safe, even at night. It is advisable to dress appropriately in conservative neighborhoods.
The South-East of Turkey has been the scene of violent clashes between the Turkish Armed Forces and the terrorist PKK mostly in the 1990s. There have also been until recently terrorist attacks and military operations, but mostly in the provinces of Sirnak and Hakkari, which border to Iraq and are some 5 hours away by car. Safety has improved in Diyarbakir during the past decade a safe place, also at nights. This is also the case in the province of Batman where Hasankeyf is located. There is a limited military presence in both cities. Clashes continue to take place nearer Turkey’s border with Iraq, some distance away from our area of travel. The Foreign Office Travel Advice website provides more information, and we advise all our clients to check it before departure.
Currently the FCO advises against all but essential travel to the following regions Hakkari, Sirnak, Siirt and Tunceli. It also states that “visitors should remain vigilant when travelling in other provinces in south eastern Turkey. Terrorist attacks are regularly carried out against the security forces in the south east of the country by the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Terrorist attacks have taken place in major cities and resorts, and you should remain vigilant at all times. Both government and civilian targets in major cities such as Istanbul, Izmir and Ankara, and tourist resorts on the Mediterranean and Aegean coasts have been attacked. Improvised explosive devices (IED's) have been placed in crowded areas, restaurants, refuge bins, outside banks and hotels and on dolmus mini-buses and trains.”
http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/europe/turkey
Insurance
Appropriate and adequate travel insurance is essential and is a condition of travelling with us. Your policy must include comprehensive medical cover including the cost of evacuation and repatriation from the remote destinations included in your tour in the event of illness or accident in addition to other medical requirements.
Please provide us with confirmation of the name of your insurance company, the policy number and the insurers’ emergency contact telephone number for use in a medical emergency no later than 8 weeks prior to the tour departure. If you fail to do so, we are entitled to cancel your booking and apply the cancellation charges shown below.
You must also ensure that the policy will protect you in the event that you travel to an area against the advice of the Foreign Office.
Hazards Inherent in Our Tours
It is in the nature of the itineraries we offer that the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office may have issued advice against all travel or all but essential travel in relation to the country or parts of the country we are intending to visit prior to confirmation of your booking. Where the FCO issues such advice, we may as a result cancel your tour or make changes so as to avoid the area concerned (see clauses 10 and 12 of our Terms and Booking Conditions). Alternatively, we may ask you to sign a form confirming you wish to proceed with the tour notwithstanding the FCO advice.
Our Cancellation Charges
If you feel you need to cancel a tour before departure we reserve the right to make the following charges.
| Period before departure within which written notification of cancellation is received by us. |
Cancellation charge per person cancelling. |
| Up to 56 days55 to 28 days
27 to 15 days 14 days or less |
The Deposit50%
75% 100% |
On receipt of your booking form and deposit we will confirm your booking in writing, then approximately 8 weeks before departure we shall send you further information relevant to your tour together with a final invoice.
Please pay the invoice within 10 days of the invoice date otherwise we reserve the right to treat the booking as cancelled and apply the cancellation conditions as set out below. Your travel documents are dispatched about 7/10 days before the tour departs.
Booking Terms and Conditions
Full details of our terms and conditions can be viewed by clicking this link.
Further reading
David McDowall, A Modern History of the Kurds, I. B. Tauris (February 15, 1997) ISBN-10: 1860641857.
http://www.amazon.com/Modern-History-Kurds-David-McDowall/dp/1860641857
Martin van Bruinessen, Agha, Shaikh and State - The Social and Political Structures of Kurdistan, 1991, Zed Books Ltd. ISBN 10 185649019X.
Kemal Kirişci & Gareth M. Winrow, The Kurdish Question and Turkey: An Example of a Trans-State Ethnic Conflict, Routledge, 1997, ISBN 0714647462,
Metin Heper, The State and Kurds in Turkey - The Question of Assimilation, Palgrave Macmillan, December 2007 ISBN: 978-0-333-64628-1
http://www.amazon.co.uk/State-Kurds-Turkey-Question-Assimilation/dp/0333646282
Christopher de Bellaigue, Rebel Land: Among Turkey's Forgotten Peoples, Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (2009), ISBN-10: 0747586284; ISBN-13: 978-0747586289
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rebel-Land-Turkeys-Forgotten-Peoples/dp/0747586284
Aliza Marcus, Blood and Belief: The PKK and the Kurdish Fight for Independence, New York University Press (2009), ISBN-10: 0814795870, ISBN-13: 978-0814795873
Henri J. Barkey, Graham E. Fuller, Turkey's Kurdish question, Rowman & Littlefield, 1998, ISBN 0-8476-8552-7.
Robert Olson, Blood, Beliefs and Ballots: The Management of Kurdish Nationalism in Turkey, 2007-2009, Costa Mesa, California: Mazda Publishers, 2009, ISBN 9781568592756.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blood-Beliefs-Ballots-Management-Nationalism/dp/1568592752
http://www.mazdapublisher.com/BookDetails.aspx?BookID=272
Dilek Kurban,Yılmaz Ensaroğlu, Toward a Solution to the Kurdish Question: Constitutional and Legal Recommendations, 1 September .2010, TESEV Publication.
