Middle East Research and Information Project

Critical Coverage of the Middle East Since 1971

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Joost Jongerden

Joost Jongerden is assistant professor at the Social Sciences Group of the Wageningen University and Research Center.

Current Analysis

“Road Maps” and Roadblocks in Turkey’s Southeast

“Whether you call it a terror problem, a southeastern Anatolia problem or a Kurdish problem, this is the first question for Turkey,” Abdullah Gül declared in May. “It has to be solved.” With these words from the president, Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (known by its Turkish acronym,

Andy Hilton, Marlies Casier, Joost Jongerden • 17 min read

MER Article

Villages of No Return

During the bitter war with the guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the 1990s, the Turkish army and paramilitary “village guards” depopulated and burned villages in southeastern Turkey on a systematic scale. Clearance of the countryside and resettlement of the rural population, from which the PKK drew membership,

Joost Jongerden • 11 min read