Mobilizing ethnic conflict: Kurdish separatism in Germany and the PKK

Abstract

Ethnic separatism often has consequences for countries other than traditional homelands. The Kurdish separatist movement presents a prime example of the diffusion of contention as hunger strikes, protest marches, and terrorist bombings in Germany indicate there is a mobilized Kurdish separatist movement outside of Turkey. Germany is now faced with dilemmas concerning internal policy towards its Kurdish residents as well as tenuous external relations with Turkey. This study examines the diffusion of Kurdish separatist contention to Germany, coordinated by the Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan (Workers' Party of Kurdistan) or PKK. To examine these relationships, the study presents a transnational mobilization model and 1) traces the origin of Kurdish discontent in Turkey and the spilling of Kurdish activism into Germany through migration, diffusion, and activism; 2) examines the efforts of the PKK to mobilize the Kurdish population in Germany; and 3) the consequences of such activism for Germany, Turkey and the Kurdish activists in Germany.