Turkey's Kurdish peace process from a conflict resolution perspective.

• Author: Borsuk, Imren
• Position: Book review

After Civil War: Division, Reconstruction, and Reconciliation in Contemporary Europe

Edited By Bill Kissane

Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015, 312 pages, $69.95, ISBN: 9780812246520

Comparative Peace Processes

By Jonathan Tonge

Cambridge: Polity, 2014, 228 pages, 55.00 [pounds sterling], ISBN: 9780745642895

Counterterrorism in Turkey: Policy Choices and Policy Effects toward the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)

By Mustafa Cocar Unal

New York: Routledge, 2012, 244 pages, $54.95, ISBN: 9780415607490

Edited by Bill Kissane, After Civil War: Division, Reconstruction and Reconciliation in Contemporary Europe is an ambitious attempt to explore the formation and reconstruction of identity and nation after internal wars. The book covers a large spectrum of cases of reconstruction after internal wars: reconstruction in Finland, Ireland and Spain as exemplary of the reconstruction of the nation in interwar Europe; reconstruction in Greece, Cyprus and Turkey as cases of reconstruction without conflict resolution; and reconstruction in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo and Northern Ireland as cases of reconstruction under external supervision. The scope and extent of the internal wars under examination are wide-ranging, including both ethnic and non-ethnic struggles; this quality allows the reader to detect the challenges and opportunities on the way to reconstruction. Additionally, After Civil War focuses on three layers of reconstruction: reconstruction at the elite level, reconstruction between elites and citizens, and reconstruction at the society level. The contributions brought together in this volume are also important in terms of applying different theoretical perspectives, including political economy, to the study of nationalism and reconstruction.

Comparative Peace Processes by Jonathan Tonge is an illuminating book for peace and conflict studies as it critically engages with the main concepts used in the field, namely mutually hurting stalemate and ripeness for peace. Joining in critiques of analyses using these concepts, Tonge demonstrates that peace processes may falter and fail even though conditions are purported to be ripe and mutually hurting stalemate exists. He also dissipates the euphoria that generally clouds the peace agreements, demonstrating that not all peace deals lead to sustainable peace. While peace processes pave the way for dealing with conflict in a non-violent atmosphere, their implications permeate society over generations. Examining peace processes from a critical eye, Comparative Peace Processes is a timely and helpful reference book for anyone interested in peace processes and conflict resolution.

Mustafa Cosar Unal's book Counterterrorism in Turkey examines the impact of counterterrorism strategies in Turkey on the policies of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party). Using qualitative and quantitative analysis concurrently, this book is a valuable contribution to counterterrorism studies in Turkey and abroad. Unal provides compelling data and a rigorous methodology on the impact of counterterrorism efforts on the PKK's strategies, however, his introduction remains weak compared to the overall text due to crude misinterpretations of historical phenomena, extended statements, and inaccuracies. Good examples are as follows: Unal notes that "for many years, especially the one-party era, Turkey reflected an unconsolidated democracy" (p. 2), but the one-party era cannot be considered as any kind of democracy. It is highly suspect that military coups brought about political stability in Turkey, although Unal assumes that "a chaotic atmosphere in the social and political context resulted in political stability induced by two military coups in Turkey during the 1970s and the 1980s" (p. 3). The Sivas incidents were not instigated "by the Turkish Islamic movement" (p. 4) as it was a communal riot involving not a cohesive Islamic movement but a heterogeneous mob involving Islamic networks. Vague statements also weaken the introduction, for example: "the Kurds overall have had, in their history, a (re)awakening of their national consciousness as a distinct community for a thousand years" (p. 5). Overall, the book offers a clear analysis of counterterrorism strategies used by the Turkish state against PKK terrorism and is useful for military and security specialists, scholars and students interested in terrorism, security and political violence studies.

This review will apply the insights and tools offered by these studies to assess Turkey's Kurdish peace process between 2013 and 2015 from a conflict resolution perspective and...