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• Contents and AbstractsIntroduction chapter abstractIn addition to providing an overview of the existing scholarship on the Muslims and Turks in Bulgaria, the introduction presents the subject of this book. The book follows the history of the Muslims in Bulgaria (mostly Turks but also Pomaks, Tatars, and Roma) in the first crucial decades after the establishment of modern Bulgaria on former Ottoman territories. More specifically, it focuses on the activities of a movement for cultural reform and its efforts to reshape local Muslim society, a phenomenon neglected by scholarship so far. The book seeks to bring out the history of Bulgaria's Muslims from the confines of "minority studies, " and put it in a new framework of inquiry, while underscoring how the community also remained a part of the Ottoman world.
• 1The Ottoman Imperial Context chapter abstractThis chapter begins with an overview of the Ottoman imperial context and the processes leading to formation of Muslim communities in the Balkans. Then it turns to the events leading to the establishment of modern Bulgaria. The Bulgarian uprisings of the 1870s and the Russo-Ottoman War of 1877-78 were crucial events. They had important consequences for intercommunal relations, as well as for the emergence of civilizational and humanitarian discourses that influenced the views of Bulgarians, Ottomans, and Bulgaria's Muslims. Hailed by Bulgarians as their "liberation war, " the Russo-Ottoman War was a formative experience for the Muslims as it was accompanied by violence, mass flight, and destitution. The chapter underscores the unique features of the 1878 San Stefano and Berlin Treaties that sought to provide guarantees for the protection for all communities, including, for the first time, the Muslims.
• 2Untangling from Empire chapter abstractThe newly established Bulgarian state came to encompass a sizable Muslim population. In spite of further emigration, in the early 20th century there were 600,000 Muslims in Bulgaria. A living legacy of Ottoman rule in the region, they became the country's most sizable minority that was implicitly connected with the Ottoman state. This chapter follows Bulgaria's efforts to administer and govern these Muslim populations, particularly in view of doubts about their loyalties and concerns that they could become the channels of Ottoman intervention in its internal affairs. It also looks at the question of the place the Muslims and different Muslim groups assumed in the emerging Bulgarian national imagination. The Ottomans, for their part, were faced with the question of finding new ways to maintain connections with this community.
• 3Doing Away With Empire chapter abstractThe chapter examines how the transformations in the Bulgarian cities and countryside affected the Muslims and their institutions. From the first years of its establishment Bulgaria embarked upon an ambitious program of urban development whose goal was to do away with the vestiges of Ottoman imperial presence and bring the appearance of Bulgarian cities in line with European models. But these efforts were not targeting defunct institutions or obsolete practices-- in reality, they affected Muslims and their institutions. In the countryside one of the most notable developments was the transfer of considerable amount of land from Muslim into Bulgarian hands. The chapter concludes with a discussion of public health measures, particularly those related to Muslim pilgrimage. These policies produced a sense of crisis among the local Muslims and in turn, they acted as a catalyst for the emergence of reform initiatives.
• 4A Quiet Upheaval chapter abstractThe chapter traces the origins of the reform movement in Bulgaria to three interrelated developments: the emergence of an independent Muslim press which served as the means for the spread and coordination of reform initiatives, the rise to prominence of a younger generation of Muslims, most of them teachers and journalists, who were the primary driving force of these endeavors, and the spread of the Young Turk opposition organization to Bulgaria. The reformist Muslims saw a common cause with the Young Turks, many turning into sympathizers of the opposition organization. Young Turk anti-establishment rhetoric and their emphasis on the importance of modern science resonated with many reformist Muslims. This chapter presents the biographies of some of the most important figures involved in the events under discussion.
• 5Negotiating Modernity chapter abstractThe chapter explores in detail the activities of the reform movement. The first important task was the reform of Muslim education. Other initiatives included evening literacy and vocational training classes. The kiraathanes (reading rooms) were among the most important institutions linked to the reform movement-- they were promoted as sites of new sociability. The chapter looks at the Muslims' efforts to organize theater performances, and particularly, at the reception of the works of Namik Kemal. It explores the ideas about the role of women and the family. The convening of the Muslim Teachers' Congresses and the establishment of the Muslim Teachers' Association were among the major reform achievements. At the same time, it provides an insight into the critical reactions of some of the local Muslims.
• 6Navigating Politics chapter abstractOne of the most important goals was to encourage Muslims to participate in politics in the name of higher patriotic ideals. The Bulgarian political context presented opportunities and obstacles. Bulgaria was a parliamentary electoral democracy and Muslims became involved in political life from the very beginning. Although some Bulgarians were skeptical about Muslims participation in elections and the national assembly, Bulgarian political parties routinely courted Muslim votes. Certain prominent reformist figures argued for the establishment of a Muslim political party which would be the only proper advocate of Muslim interests, however, such ambitions were not realized. At the same time, reformers contested the position of the established Muslim leadership resorting to common tactics popular in the local political environment. The chapter looks at some of the major campaigns launched by Muslim reformers, as well as the actions of their Muslim adversaries.
• 7Homeland, Nation, and Community chapter abstractThe chapter explores the emergence of new ideas about community and belonging among Bulgaria's Muslims. For many reformist Muslims the homeland was the most sacred ideal-- it could be Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire or an abstract place. During the period under consideration "Muslim" was the most common term of self-designation regardless of the Muslims' background. But at the beginning of the 20th century "Turk" started to acquire wider popularity within certain circles, while an argument between Turks and Tatars provides an opportunity to explore the different perceptions of identity. At the same time Bulgaria's Muslims became increasingly aware of being part of a larger world in which many of their coreligionists shared similar challenges. The chapter looks specifically at the contacts with Crimean Tatars and the Muslims of Habsburg Bosnia, and visions of Pan Islamic unity. The chapter ends with the reactions to the Young Turk revolution.
• Conclusion chapter abstractThe elation of Bulgaria's Muslims with the revolution was short-lived. Soon after, Bulgaria declared independence, raising fears about a possible war with the Ottoman Empire. In this tense environment Muslim life came to a standstill. Tensions dissipated with the signing of a Bulgarian-Ottoman convention recognizing Bulgaria's independence. The Bulgarian and the Ottoman authorities negotiated an agreement concerning Muslim religious organization and the vakifs in Bulgaria. In reality, it largely formalized the existing situation, although the Ottomans and the Muslims had objected to it. This conclusion evaluates the period and events under discussion, as well as its significance for subsequent events.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

Between Empire and Nation tells the story of the transformation of the Muslim community in modern Bulgaria during a period of imperial dissolution, conflicting national and imperial enterprises, and the emergence of new national and ethnic identities. In 1878, the Ottoman empire relinquished large territories in the Balkans, with about 600,000 Muslims remaining in the newly-established Bulgarian state. Milena B. Methodieva explores how these former Ottoman subjects, now under Bulgarian rule, navigated between empire and nation-state, and sought to claim a place in the larger modern world. Following the Russo-Ottoman war of 1877-1878, a movement for cultural reform and political mobilization gained momentum within Bulgaria's sizable Muslim population. From 1878 until the 1908 Young Turk revolution, this reform movement emerged as part of a struggle to redefine Muslim collective identity while engaging with broader intellectual and political trends of the time. Using a wide array of primary sources and drawing on both Ottoman and Eastern European historiographies, Methodieva approaches the question of Balkan Muslims' engagement with modernity through a transnational lens, arguing that the experience of this Muslim minority provides new insight into the nature of nationalism, citizenship, and state formation.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Contents and AbstractsIntroduction chapter abstractIn addition to providing an overview of the existing scholarship on the Muslims and Turks in Bulgaria, the introduction presents the subject of this book. The book follows the history of the Muslims in Bulgaria (mostly Turks but also Pomaks, Tatars, and Roma) in the first crucial decades after the establishment of modern Bulgaria on former Ottoman territories. More specifically, it focuses on the activities of a movement for cultural reform and its efforts to reshape local Muslim society, a phenomenon neglected by scholarship so far. The book seeks to bring out the history of Bulgaria's Muslims from the confines of "minority studies, " and put it in a new framework of inquiry, while underscoring how the community also remained a part of the Ottoman world.
• 1The Ottoman Imperial Context chapter abstractThis chapter begins with an overview of the Ottoman imperial context and the processes leading to formation of Muslim communities in the Balkans. Then it turns to the events leading to the establishment of modern Bulgaria. The Bulgarian uprisings of the 1870s and the Russo-Ottoman War of 1877-78 were crucial events. They had important consequences for intercommunal relations, as well as for the emergence of civilizational and humanitarian discourses that influenced the views of Bulgarians, Ottomans, and Bulgaria's Muslims. Hailed by Bulgarians as their "liberation war, " the Russo-Ottoman War was a formative experience for the Muslims as it was accompanied by violence, mass flight, and destitution. The chapter underscores the unique features of the 1878 San Stefano and Berlin Treaties that sought to provide guarantees for the protection for all communities, including, for the first time, the Muslims.
• 2Untangling from Empire chapter abstractThe newly established Bulgarian state came to encompass a sizable Muslim population. In spite of further emigration, in the early 20th century there were 600,000 Muslims in Bulgaria. A living legacy of Ottoman rule in the region, they became the country's most sizable minority that was implicitly connected with the Ottoman state. This chapter follows Bulgaria's efforts to administer and govern these Muslim populations, particularly in view of doubts about their loyalties and concerns that they could become the channels of Ottoman intervention in its internal affairs. It also looks at the question of the place the Muslims and different Muslim groups assumed in the emerging Bulgarian national imagination. The Ottomans, for their part, were faced with the question of finding new ways to maintain connections with this community.
• 3Doing Away With Empire chapter abstractThe chapter examines how the transformations in the Bulgarian cities and countryside affected the Muslims and their institutions. From the first years of its establishment Bulgaria embarked upon an ambitious program of urban development whose goal was to do away with the vestiges of Ottoman imperial presence and bring the appearance of Bulgarian cities in line with European models. But these efforts were not targeting defunct institutions or obsolete practices-- in reality, they affected Muslims and their institutions. In the countryside one of the most notable developments was the transfer of considerable amount of land from Muslim into Bulgarian hands. The chapter concludes with a discussion of public health measures, particularly those related to Muslim pilgrimage. These policies produced a sense of crisis among the local Muslims and in turn, they acted as a catalyst for the emergence of reform initiatives.
• 4A Quiet Upheaval chapter abstractThe chapter traces the origins of the reform movement in Bulgaria to three interrelated developments: the emergence of an independent Muslim press which served as the means for the spread and coordination of reform initiatives, the rise to prominence of a younger generation of Muslims, most of them teachers and journalists, who were the primary driving force of these endeavors, and the spread of the Young Turk opposition organization to Bulgaria. The reformist Muslims saw a common cause with the Young Turks, many turning into sympathizers of the opposition organization. Young Turk anti-establishment rhetoric and their emphasis on the importance of modern science resonated with many reformist Muslims. This chapter presents the biographies of some of the most important figures involved in the events under discussion.
• 5Negotiating Modernity chapter abstractThe chapter explores in detail the activities of the reform movement. The first important task was the reform of Muslim education. Other initiatives included evening literacy and vocational training classes. The kiraathanes (reading rooms) were among the most important institutions linked to the reform movement-- they were promoted as sites of new sociability. The chapter looks at the Muslims' efforts to organize theater performances, and particularly, at the reception of the works of Namik Kemal. It explores the ideas about the role of women and the family. The convening of the Muslim Teachers' Congresses and the establishment of the Muslim Teachers' Association were among the major reform achievements. At the same time, it provides an insight into the critical reactions of some of the local Muslims.
• 6Navigating Politics chapter abstractOne of the most important goals was to encourage Muslims to participate in politics in the name of higher patriotic ideals. The Bulgarian political context presented opportunities and obstacles. Bulgaria was a parliamentary electoral democracy and Muslims became involved in political life from the very beginning. Although some Bulgarians were skeptical about Muslims participation in elections and the national assembly, Bulgarian political parties routinely courted Muslim votes. Certain prominent reformist figures argued for the establishment of a Muslim political party which would be the only proper advocate of Muslim interests, however, such ambitions were not realized. At the same time, reformers contested the position of the established Muslim leadership resorting to common tactics popular in the local political environment. The chapter looks at some of the major campaigns launched by Muslim reformers, as well as the actions of their Muslim adversaries.
• 7Homeland, Nation, and Community chapter abstractThe chapter explores the emergence of new ideas about community and belonging among Bulgaria's Muslims. For many reformist Muslims the homeland was the most sacred ideal-- it could be Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire or an abstract place. During the period under consideration "Muslim" was the most common term of self-designation regardless of the Muslims' background. But at the beginning of the 20th century "Turk" started to acquire wider popularity within certain circles, while an argument between Turks and Tatars provides an opportunity to explore the different perceptions of identity. At the same time Bulgaria's Muslims became increasingly aware of being part of a larger world in which many of their coreligionists shared similar challenges. The chapter looks specifically at the contacts with Crimean Tatars and the Muslims of Habsburg Bosnia, and visions of Pan Islamic unity. The chapter ends with the reactions to the Young Turk revolution.
• Conclusion chapter abstractThe elation of Bulgaria's Muslims with the revolution was short-lived. Soon after, Bulgaria declared independence, raising fears about a possible war with the Ottoman Empire. In this tense environment Muslim life came to a standstill. Tensions dissipated with the signing of a Bulgarian-Ottoman convention recognizing Bulgaria's independence. The Bulgarian and the Ottoman authorities negotiated an agreement concerning Muslim religious organization and the vakifs in Bulgaria. In reality, it largely formalized the existing situation, although the Ottomans and the Muslims had objected to it. This conclusion evaluates the period and events under discussion, as well as its significance for subsequent events.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

Between Empire and Nation tells the story of the transformation of the Muslim community in modern Bulgaria during a period of imperial dissolution, conflicting national and imperial enterprises, and the emergence of new national and ethnic identities. In 1878, the Ottoman empire relinquished large territories in the Balkans, with about 600,000 Muslims remaining in the newly-established Bulgarian state. Milena B. Methodieva explores how these former Ottoman subjects, now under Bulgarian rule, navigated between empire and nation-state, and sought to claim a place in the larger modern world. Following the Russo-Ottoman war of 1877-1878, a movement for cultural reform and political mobilization gained momentum within Bulgaria's sizable Muslim population. From 1878 until the 1908 Young Turk revolution, this reform movement emerged as part of a struggle to redefine Muslim collective identity while engaging with broader intellectual and political trends of the time. Using a wide array of primary sources and drawing on both Ottoman and Eastern European historiographies, Methodieva approaches the question of Balkan Muslims' engagement with modernity through a transnational lens, arguing that the experience of this Muslim minority provides new insight into the nature of nationalism, citizenship, and state formation.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Introduction / František Šístek
• The 'Turkish threat' and early modern Central Europe : Czech reflections / Ladislav Hladký and Petr Stehlík
• The Muslims of Bosnia and Herzegovina between millet and nation / Božidar Jezernik
• Ambivalent perceptions : Austria-Hungary, Bosnian Muslims and the occupation campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1878) / Martin Gabriel
• Sleeping Beauty's awakening : Habsburg colonialism in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1878-1918 / Clemens Ruthner
• The portrayal of Muslims in Austrian-Hungarian state primary school textbooks for Bosnia and Herzegovina / Oliver Pejić
• Towards secularity : autonomy and modernization of Bosnian Islamic institutions under Austro-Hungarian administration / Zora Hesová
• Under the Slavic crescent : representations of Bosnian Muslims in Czech literature, travelogues and memoirs, 1878-1918 / František Šístek
• Divided identities in the Bosnian narratives of Vjenceslav Novak and Rebecca West / Charles Sabatos
• Austronostalgia, Habsburg legacy, Bosnian Muslims and Yugoslav family life in the work of Croatian anthropologist Vera Stein Erlich / Bojan Baskar
• The Serbian proverb Poturica gori od Turčina (a Turk-convert is worse than a Turk) : stigmatizer and figure of speech / Marija Mandić
• From brothers to others? : changing images of Bosnian Muslims in (post-)Yugoslav Slovenia / Alenka Bartulović
• Exploring religious views among young people of Bosnian Muslim origin in Berlin / Aldina Čemernica
• The West, the Balkans and the in-between : Bosnian Muslims representing a European Islam / Merima Šehagić
• Conclusion / František Šístek.

"As a Slavic-speaking religious and ethnic "Other" living just a stone's throw from the symbolic heart of the continent, the Muslims of Bosnia and Herzegovina have long occupied a liminal space in the European imagination. To a significant degree, the wider representations and perceptions of this population can be traced to the reports of Central European-and especially Habsburg-diplomats, scholars, journalists, tourists, and other observers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This volume assembles contributions from historians, anthropologists, political scientists, and literary scholars to examine the political, social, and discursive dimensions of Bosnian Muslims' encounters with the West since the nineteenth century"-- Provided by publisher.

• Ethnic and religious minorities : a conceptual framework
• Minorities in the Ottoman Empire
• Minorities in the Republic of Turkey
• Turkey's obligations under international law
• Minorities in Turkey's laws and legal structures
• Legislative reforms, resistance and reversals
• The ideological foundations of repression and discrimination
• Implications of persistent rights violations.

"A comprehensive analysis of ethnic and religious minority rights in Turkey, encompassing the Ottoman era to the present"-- Provided by publisher.

• Foreword by Thomas Jeffrey Miley with Luqman Guldive
• Preface
• Introduction: Political representation of Kurds in Turkey
• Chapter 1: Kurdish Political Parties and representation of the Kurds in Turkey
• Chapter 2: Kurds and Electoral Politics in Turkey
• Chapter 3: Tribes and Political Representation
• Chapter 4: Religious Groups and Political Representation
• Chapter 5: The Modern Classes and Political Representation
• Chapter 6: Women and Youth and Political Representation
• Chapter 7: Comment: Representative Democracy and the Democratic Confederal Project by Thomas Jeffrey Miley with Luqman Guldive
• Conclusions: Re-thinking Kurdish Political Representation in Turkey
• Bibliography
• Index.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Turkey relentlessly persecuted any form of Kurdish dissent. This led to the radicalisation of an increasing number of Kurds, the rise of the Kurdish national movement and the PKK's insurgency against Turkey. Political activism by the Kurds or around Kurdish-related political demands continues to be viewed with deep suspicions by Turkey's political establishment and severely restricted. Despite this, the pro-Kurdish democratic movement has emerged, providing Kurds with a channel to represent themselves and articulate their demands. This book is timely contribution to the debate on the Kurds' political representation in Turkey, tracing the different forms it has taken since 1950. The book highlights how the transformations in Kurdish society have affected the types of actors involved in politics and the avenues, organisations and networks Kurds use to challenge the state. Based on survey data obtained from over 350 individuals, this is the first book to provide an in-depth analysis of Kurdish attitudes from across different segments of Kurdish society, including the elite, the business and professional classes, women and youth activists. It is an intimate portrait of how Kurds today are dealing with the challenges and difficulties of political representation.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• The Political Context of the Siege
• The Early Stages of the Siege
• The Emergence of a Reporting Infrastructure
• Operating in a City Under Siege
• The Reporter's Day/Reporting Daily Life
• The Troubles We've Seen.

"Drawing on detailed primary and secondary material in English and Bosnian, this book provides the first detailed account of the reporting of the Siege of Sarajevo and the role that journalists played in highlighting both military and non-military aspects of it. It also includes images from the front-line taken by co-author and award-winning photojournalist, Paul Lowe. Together Lowe and Kenneth Morrison document a relatively short but crucial period in both the history of Bosnia & Herzegovina and the profession of journalism"-- Provided by publisher.

• AcknowledgmentsVII List of FiguresIX Introduction: Why Czechs and Turks?
• 1 The Return of the "Terrible Turk"
• 1 The Turkish Wars and Czech Variations on the Turkish Theme
• 2 "The Turk" as a Proxy
• 3 The Oppressors of Our Slavic Brethren
• 4 The Turkish Race
• 5 The Longevity of Stereotypes
• 6 Conclusion
• 2 Czechs Abroad
• 1 Getting Ready to Travel
• 2 Entering the Orient
• 3 Backward or Exotic?
• 4 Turkish Men (To Say Nothing of the Dogs)
• 5 Women
• 6 The Turks and Others
• 7 Conclusion
• 3 Civilizing the Slavic Muslims of Bosnia-Herzegovina
• 1 What's in a Name?
• 2 The Orient at One's Doorstep (Safe Even for Ladies)
• 3 Occupation as Liberation
• 4 Czech Colonial Ambitions
• 5 Conclusion
• 4 "Our Mission in Oriental Studies"
• 1 The Founding Fathers of Czech Oriental Studies
• 2 Oriental Studies "as Translation"
• 3 Finding a Voice of Their Own
• 4 Scholars and Czech Society
• 5 Conclusion
• Conclusion: The New Republics
• Bibliography Index.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

In "The Turk" in the Czech Imagination (1870s-1923), Jitka Maleckova describes Czechs' views of the Turks in the last half century of the existence of the Ottoman Empire and how they were influenced by ideas and trends in other countries, including the European fascination with the Orient, images of "the Turk, " contemporary scholarship, and racial theories. The Czechs were not free from colonial ambitions either, as their attitude to Bosnia-Herzegovina demonstrates, but their viewpoint was different from that found in imperial states and among the peoples who had experienced Ottoman rule. The book convincingly shows that the Czechs mainly viewed the Turks through the lenses of nationalism and Pan-Slavism - in solidarity with the Slavs fighting against Ottoman rule.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Prologue Introduction "Under the banner of Islam" "The ambivalence of the sacred": Religion and conflict resolution The porous borders of religion and ethnicity The shifting borders of religious and political fields
• Chapter 1 "Green Kemalism": The evolving role of Islam in the Kurdish conflict Kurdish revolts in the late Ottoman period: Against centralization? Kurdish revolts in the early Republican period: Kurdish-Islamic Synthesis? The secularization of the Kurdish movement: 1950-1978 Bringing Islam back in: 1990-2002
• Chapter 2 "Islam as cement": The way out? "There is only one nation and that is the nation of Abraham" The ummah that never was AKP's Kurdish policy: Neo-Ottoman Pan-Islamism
• Chapter 3 Muslim-Kurds: The case for religio-ethnic identity "God could have created us all the same": Religious roots of ethnicity Kurdish Islam embodied: Civil Friday Prayers Turkey's religious field in the 2000s: A Bourdieusian analysis Islam as a tool of resistance
• Chapter 4 "Only Turks can lead a Muslim union": The case for ethno-religious identity Ottomanism, Islamism, Turkism: Birth pangs of Turkish nationalism Turkish History Thesis and the Turkification of Islam Turkey's pending dilemma: The Turkish-Islamic Synthesis AKP's transformation: "From the Kurd's Qur'an to the Turk's flag" Conclusion: United in religion, divided by ethnicity? The way forward: Whither Kurdish conflict? Appendix: Methodology Notes Index.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

Sunni Islam has played an ambivalent role in Turkey's Kurdish conflict-both as a conflict resolution tool and as a tool of resistance. Under the Banner of Islam uses Turkey as a case study to understand how religious, ethnic, and national identities converge in ethnic conflicts between co-religionists. Gulay Turkmen asks a question that informs the way we understand religiously homogeneous ethnic conflicts today: Is it possible for religion to act as a resolution tool in these often-violent conflicts? In search for answers to this question, in Under the Banner of Islam, Turkmen journeys into the inner circles of religious elites from different backgrounds: non-state-appointed local Kurdish meles, state-appointed Kurdish and Turkish imams, heads of religious NGOs, and members of religious orders. Blending interview data with a detailed historical analysis that goes back as far as the nineteenth century, she argues that the strength of Turkish and Kurdish nationalisms, the symbiotic relationship between Turkey's religious and political fields, the religious elites' varying conceptualizations of religious and ethnic identities, and the recent political developments in the region (particularly in Syria) all contribute to the complex role religion plays in the Kurdish conflict in Turkey. Under the Banner of Islam is a specific story of religion, ethnicity, and nationalism in Turkey's Kurdish conflict, but it also tracks a broader narrative of how ethnic and religious identities are negotiated when resolving conflicts.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

"How do religious, ethnic, and national identities interact in religiously homogenous ethnic conflicts? Is it possible for religion to act as a resolution tool in such conflicts? Why? Why not? In search for answers to these questions, Under the Banner of Islam focuses on the ambivalent role Sunni Islam has played in Turkey's Kurdish conflict-both as a conflict-resolution tool and as a tool of resistance-in the last two decades. Relying mainly on participant observation in Civil Friday Prayers and 62 interviews conducted in three different cities in Turkey (Istanbul and the majority-Kurdish Diyarbakir and Batman) between June 2012 and June 2013, it demonstrates that Sunni Islam has had a very limited impact as a conflict-resolution tool in Turkey. Blending interview data with a detailed historical institutional analysis that goes back as early as the nineteenth century, it argues that the strength of Turkish and Kurdish nationalisms, the symbiotic relationship between Turkey's religious and political fields, religious elites' varying conceptualizations of religious and ethnic identities, and the recent political developments in the region (particularly the establishment of an autonomous Kurdish region, Rojava, in Syria) have all contributed to this outcome. The resulting narrative is not only a record of religion, ethnicity, and nationalism in Turkey's Kurdish conflict, but also an investigation of how ethnic and religious identities are negotiated in conflict resolution and how symbolic boundaries are drawn in ethnic conflict zones"-- Provided by publisher.