Kurdish Identity, Islamism, and Ottomanism

This is a welcome addition to the literature on the early history of Kurdish nationalism. Whereas most studies focus on the political history of the late Ottoman Empire and its interactions with the Kurdish elites, Deniz Ekici approaches the rise of Kurdish nationalism from the perspective of critical discourse analysis. With his detailed and sophisticated reading of the most important Kurdish-language publications from around the turn of the twentieth century, he considerably enriches our understanding of this crucial period.

-- Michiel Leezenberg, University of Amsterdam

Dr. Ekici’s book constitutes a decisive contribution not only on the Kurdish intellectual microcosm at the turn of the twentieth century, but also on the ideological and political debates during the very last years of the Ottoman Empire.

-- Hamit Bozarslan, School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, Paris

Deniz Ekici's work demonstrates that the Kurdish-language articles in the early Kurdish press differed in tone and message from the Ottoman Turkish-languages articles in the same papers. Mr. Ekici has made a case for the importance of knowing Kurdish as well, and his meticulous textual analysis changes our understanding of the early Kurdish periodicals and their contributors, who due to the circumstances had to adopt a more subtle tone to promote Kurdish nationalism.If we knew then what we know now, perhaps the misguided policy decisions taken after World War I, which still affect us today, could have been prevented.

-- Michael Chyet, Library of Cong