Harriet Allsopp, The Kurds of Syria: Political Parties and Identity in the Middle East, London and New York, I. B. Tauris, 2014, 299 pp., (ISBN: 978-1780765631).
Harriet Allsopp’s book seeks to explain a striking paradox: while the Kurdish political parties in Syria suffered from a slow but sure process of delegitimisation from the 1990s onwards, by 2010, the level of (Kurdish) “national consciousness” among Syrian Kurds had never been that high. Delegitimisation was marked by an ever-increasing gap between the intellectuals and the youth on the one hand, and the political leadership, on the other. Furthermore, some of the factors that explain Kurdish parties’ “crisis of legitimacy” also help us understand why, despite unprecedented political opportunities (such as regaining political, as well as sentimental, attachment from the “Kurdish street” prompted by the Syrian uprising of 2011) only the PYD – the Kurdish Democratic Union, an offshoot of the PKK and one of the rare political parties with no historical connections with the first Kurdish political party, which was established in 1957 – had been able to benefit from these unexpected prospects thanks to the takeover of the Kurdish regions, both from military and political viewpoints.
In order to shed light on the abovementioned puzzling dynamics, Allsopp provides a detailed historical account of the emergence and evolution of the Kurdish movement in Syria (Chapters 1, 2, and 3) since the establishment of the Syrian state under colonial rule in 1920 up to 2012, including: the creation of the first Kurdish circles in mandatory Syria (1920–1946), the ambiguous relations between the French authorities and the Kurdish elites, the economic and sociological characteristics of the Kurdish leadership, and the increasingly strained relations between the Kurdish political activists and the other Syrian parties (especially the Communist and the Ba’th Party). In addition to the historical background, Allsopp offers a meticulous analysis (Chapters 3, 4, and 5) of the Kurdish parties’ internal functioning, activities, programs, social as well as cultural roles within the Kurdish society, and relations with third parties in order to provide a better understanding of the reasons behind their “crisis of legitimacy”.
The latter is probably the most original part of the book as it explores a largely understudied aspect of political parties, not only within the Kurdish context, but also in the Middle East and beyond. Thus, political parties, in particular within an authoritarian context, or perhaps precisely because of the authoritarian framework (illegality, repression) had to look for alternative paths, new functions, new alliances, as well as repertoires of collective action which allowed them to play a relevant role in societies or groups they pretended to represent.
In particular, the author enhances our knowledge of the Kurdish political space in Syria. While highlighting some input from the established political parties, such as national legitimacy, family as well as trans-border networks, the book also underscores parties’ shortcomings, which became more visible after 2004. What’s more, it allows the reader to comprehend both the crisis of legitimacy and the factors that account for different response of Kurdish parties to a new context, namely the beginning of the Syrian uprising in 2011 and the subsequent partial withdrawal of the Syrian forces from Kurdish enclaves in July 2012. In so doing, it also offers some hints about the possible developments of Syrian crisis in the short term and the role Kurdish parties might be able to play in the current dynamics in Syria and Iraq.
All in all, Allsopp’s book fills a vacuum in the field of Kurdish studies. Her long and comprehensive research allows her to garnish her account with a wide range of primary sources and interviews conducted in 2000 and later. In addition to the well-documented discussion on Kurdish political parties, the book offers a thorough analysis of the origins and status of the “stateless” Kurds, beyond the mere description of the tragic consequences this “subgroup” suffered in the 1962 special census. In that sense, the book is particularly useful for students, observers as well as NGO experts interested in the Middle Eastern politics, Kurdish and human rights issues.
A primary criticism is, however, that since the Kurdish political parties constitute the main theme of the book, it would have been interesting to present a more general discussion about political parties in the Middle East from the very start, and particularly in Syria, in order to better signal out the particularities, as well as similarities between the Kurdish political space and parallel political spaces with which, by the way, the former interact in Syria. Engaging conceptually with the rich scientific literature on politics in the Middle East would have allowed Allsopp to better fit the Kurdish case into a wider theoretical framework. Thus, for instance, the incapacity of most Syrian political parties to respond to the 2011 uprising challenge may tell us something more general about political systems within authoritarian contexts.
Less importantly, while Allsopp’s book discusses relations between Kurdish parties, Syria and the main Arab oppositional groups, the book does not tell us about the relationship that Kurdish parties have (or haven’t) established with other political parties (in particular with the Assyrian movement) active in northern Syria, nor with the other communities (Armenian, Assyrian, Arab, Turkmen) living there. Thus, while the Kurdish parties in Iraq seem to have an active “policy” regarding “minorities” (mainly Turkmen and Christian from different sects) in Iraqi Kurdistan, Kurdish parties in Syria (at least until 2012) seem to have failed to establish relations with other political groups despite the existence of a common “enemy” – the Bath’ist regime. What are the factors that may explain this difference?
Despite these minor weaknesses, this is a highly compelling book. The clarity with which the main arguments are presented is complemented by a serious effort of primary research in Syria and several other locations, resulting in a most interesting contribution that was a joy to read.