The Kurds and the Future of Turkey

Since 1984, Turkey has suffered from an increasingly virulent guerrilla/terrorist insurgency led by the Partiya Karkaren Kurdistan (PKK), or Kurdistan Workers Party, headed by Abdullah Ocalan. By 1996, more than 20,000 people had been killed and another 2,000,000 displaced and 2,000 villages destroyed. At present, this crisis threatens to challenge the future of the country. Gunter analyzes the authoritarian tradition in Turkey and puzzles over the inability of Turkey to take the final steps toward democracy. He offers a solution that will allow the country to remain whole. Gunter's masterly analysis and proffered solution is necessary reading for anyone interested in Turkey and its troubling problem.