The Kurds of Central Anatolia

Mehmet Gurses is the Najmaldin Karim & Jalal Talabani Chair of Kurdish Studies in the School of Politics, Security, and International Affairs at the University of Central Florida, USA. He is the author of Anatomy of a Civil War: Sociopolitical Impacts of the Kurdish Conflict in Turkey (2018) and co-editor of Kurds in the Middle East: Enduring Problems and New Dynamics (2020).Haci Cevik is a postdoctoral researcher at the Berlin Institute for Empirical Integration and Migration Research (BIM), Humboldt University, Germany. He is the author of Are There Kurds in Konya? (2021).

• Foreword, Hamit Bozarslan, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, FranceIntroduction, Mehmet Gurses, University of Central Florida, US, and Haci Cevik, Humboldt University, GermanySection I: Kurds of Central Anatolia: An OverviewChapter 1: The Historical Odyssey of Kurds of Central Anatolia, Yalcin Cakmak, Munzur University, TurkeyChapter 2: Researching Kurds of Central Anatolia: Conceptual and Methodological Challenges in Studying Kurds of Central Anatolia, Yucel Demirer, Independent Scholar, TurkeyChapter 3: Literary Works on Kurds of Central Anatolia: Resistance through Publishing, Adem Ozgur, Independent Journalist, NetherlandsSection II: Being Kurdish in a Sea of TurkishnessChapter 4: Desert Kurds of Kirsehir: Clinging to Kurdishness in the Heart of Anatolia, Arzu Yilmaz, University of Kurdistan, HewlerChapter 5: Kurds of Haymana-Ankara: A Kurdish Tribe in Turkish Capital, Reyhan Ozsahin, University of Tubingen, Germany and Haci Cevik, Humboldt University, GermanyChapter 6: Migration, Identity, and Cultural Memory: Social Construction of Kurdishness in Bala-Ankara, Sena Kaplan, University of Virginia, USChapter 7: Kurds of Yunak: Walking a Tightrope in Konya, Beyza Han-Tuncez, University of California, Berkeley, USChapter 8: A Kurdish Mahalle in Kastamonu: Neighborhood as Identity, Reyhan Ozsahin, University of Tubingen, GermanySection III: The Evolving Kurdishness in Central AnatoliaChapter 9: Identity, Migration, and Architecture among the Kurds of Central Anatolia, Gülüstan Polat-Yilmaz, Technical University of Graz, AustriaChapter 10: Women and Politics Among Kurds of Central Anatolia, Busra Çelik Kosan, Independent Scholar, TurkeyChapter 11: The Shifting Ground and Inter-Ethnic Relations in Konya, Haci Cevik, Humboldt University, Germany, and Mehmet Gurses, University of Central Florida, US

I wholeheartedly recommend this book for anyone seeking a thought-provoking exploration of Kurdish identity in the context of changing political landscapes. It lays out diverse ways of being a Central Anatolian Kurd, its connection and disconnection to Eastern Kurdishness provides a comprehensive exploration of Kurdish marginalized identity amid evolving political dynamics. A topic almost non-existent in Western academic studies, makes this book a standout contribution. The dedication to encouraging fresh thinking in methodology adds another valuable dimension for researchers.