Kurdish Hizbullah in Turkey: Islamism, Violence and the State

2017 | History & Politics

This study analyses Kurdish Hizbullah as a social movement, investigating the biggest Kurdish Islamist group through ethnographic fieldwork. Kurt charts Hizbullah's development from its origins in violent militancy to its move towards a more 'civic' mode of engagement, an engagement which nonetheless provides a rationale for disenchanted young Islamists to engage in political violence. Kurt explores Hizbullah in Turkey's many paradoxes; its political rise and the apparent power of Islamism amongst Kurds, unusual in a region in which leftist Kurdish political movements dominate political discourse; its composition, which differs from the Shiite Hizbullah in Lebanon, and is populated by Sunnis and Shafii Kurds. This ethnography, populated by extensive interviews with members, leaders and supporters of Hizbullah, offers a unique insight into the Islamist group, revealing the manner in which Islamic civil society has taken root in a region where ethnic identity has been the primary organising tool against a repressive and violent state.

Mehmet Kurt (Author)