The PKK and its evolution in Britain (1984–present)

ABSTRACT

As of today, a highly mobilized Kurdish diaspora and its most prominent representative, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), has become so influential in the European political arena that it might tip the balance of the European Union’s policies on Turkey in its favor. Since too much attention has been given to the PKK’s activities in Germany, the organization’s actions in Britain remain understudied, despite the fact that Britain has been a vital place in Kurdish politics and political lobbying activities. Drawing on fieldwork findings, this article attempts to explore both the evolution and the political activities of the PKK in Britain across three different timeframes, from 1984 until the present time. Our findings suggest that in Britain, the PKK has departed in recent years from its conventional terrorist activities and transformed into a lobbying power that is likely to gain full legitimacy (i.e., being de-listed from terrorist organization lists) in the near future.     

LOCAL GOVERNMENT DISCRETION AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN TURKEY

After ratification of the European Charter of Local Self‐Government in 1993, Turkey has witnessed major local government reform efforts in 2000s. The policy objectives of these reforms were granting more political, administrative and fiscal discretion to local governments along the principles of democratic decentralization and strengthening accountability linkages between citizens and local governments. We employ a diagnostic framework to analyse the impact of these reforms. We argue that reforms have achieved limited success in improving decision‐making autonomy and accountability of local governments. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Customary Homicides in Diyarbakir Province

This study presents an analysis of the causes of so‐called honor killings in the context of “customary homicide” and a discussion of preventive measures. Finalized case files of customary homicide between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2012 were retrospectively examined in Diyarbakir Province, Turkey. Of a total of 28 case victims, 17 (60.7%) were females and 11 (39.3%) were males. All perpetrators were male. There was a significant difference between male and female victims in terms of economic independence (p = 0.000). A direct blood relationship or relationship by marriage (such as brother‐in‐law) was found to have a significant association with the gender of the victim (p < 0.001). Multilevel educational activities targeting a transformation of the perception of women by society, replacement of patriarchal models with more modern attitudes, and encouragement of individuality may represent effective strategies that may help reduce the number of customary homicide, which represents a multifaceted problem.     

History writing as agitation and propaganda: the Kazakh history book of 1943

The reconstruction of the Soviet recent past is a controversial issue in the post-Soviet republics. In Kazakhstan, the reconstruction of the past has gradually rehabilitated leading Kazakh communists, such as Zhumabai Shaiakhmetov. One of the main rationales of this rehabilitation is his support for Kazakh historical writing, which resulted in a textbook published in 1943. This work has been seen as an endeavor by ‘patriotic’ Kazakh officials and historians to defend Kazakh national heritage against the ‘Soviet colonial empire’. By presenting a broader view of the war period in Kazakhstan from the archives, this article argues that this history textbook was in fact merely an agitation-propaganda product of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan. Shaiakhmetov and others had mostly secured their career by remaining loyal to the Soviet system during the collectivization, the Great Famine and the Great Terror. Therefore, their encouragement of the publication of a national history in 1943 for propaganda purposes does not qualify them as suitable predecessors of the current generation of Kazakh rulers.     

Pen guns in Turkey

This study describes the frequency and type of pen guns in Turkey by examining the cases sent to the Council of Forensic Medicine of Turkey between 2000 and 2004. In total, 32 cases and 61 pen guns were examined. These guns were evaluated in respect of the type of the gun, size and caliber, rifling, design, mechanism, fitness for use, legality, and geographical distribution. Fifty-nine percent of the guns were 22-gauge. Most commonly, they originate from South Eastern Anatolia. It is suggested that the guns are handmade.     

Identification of unknown bodies by using CT images of frontal sinus

The aim of the study was to define a simple system for the identification of unknown bodies by using CT images of frontal sinus and to discuss whether it was worth to add measurements to the system or not. The system was including simple features as F (presence or absence of frontal sinus), S (intersinus and intrasinus septum) and S (scalloping), and named as FSS system. Measurements selected for the study were width, height, anteroposterior length, total width of two sinuses, the distance between the highest points of the two sinuses and the distance of each sinus to its maximum lateral limit. The study was conducted retrospectively on the paranasal CT scans of 100 cases (38 male and 62 female) who had no apparent sinonasal pathology. All the features and measurements were coded according to the system defined by the authors for each case and coded formulas were compared. At least 93% of the formulas could be eliminated for a case by using FSS system. The rate of success was increased to 98% by adding measurements. Contrary to objective criteria of FSS system, measurements were prone to bias. Therefore, in practice success rate would be expected to be lower than calculated. In the study population, instead of making 100 measurements, eliminating the most of the cases with FSS system and later discriminating the rest by pattern matching was seen logical.     

Morphologic analysis of third-molar mineralization for eastern Turkish children and youth

To date, there has been no chronological age estimation according to third-molar mineralization in eastern Turkish children and adolescents. The aim of this study was to analyze the development of the mandibular third molar and its relationship to chronological age in subjects aged 7-22 years according to Demirjian's stages. The final sample consisted of 1348 [622 males (mean age, 12.72 ± 3.14) and 726 females (mean age, 12.92 ± 2.89)] conventional orthopantomograms from eastern Turkish youths. An independent t-test was performed to evaluate the difference between sexes. Regression analysis was performed to obtain regression formulae for dental age calculation with chronological age. In males, there was a difference between males and females only at stage C (p = 0.03); females were advanced 0.37 years compared with males at the stage C. Third-molar development among eastern Turkish children and youths occurs at a more advanced age than other populations for almost all stages.     

Methods Meet Policy: Transnational Monitoring of the Israel–Palestine Conflict

For the past 2 years, the Kansas Event Data System project has been using event data and other web-based sources to produce quarterly reports on the Israel–Palestine conflict for the swisspeace (Swiss Peace Foundation) FAST Project, which is sponsored by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and a number of non-governmental organizations. This paper describes the indicators that we are monitoring, the process we have developed to generate the reports, and the supplemental sources we are using. We address the issue of the differences between newspaper and news wire reports with respect to "media fatigue" effects and also analyze some of the strengths and weaknesses of this approach to conflict monitoring.     

IMPACT OF DECENTRALIZATION REFORMS IN PAKISTAN ON SERVICE DELIVERY—AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

By bringing decision making closer to people, decentralization is expected to improve governance and service delivery outcomes. Yet, the empirical evidence on the impact of decentralization on macroeconomic performance and public sector size presents a mixed picture. However, the findings of cross‐country studies in the literature are sensitive to the way decentralization is defined, and how its extent and impact are measured. This article avoids the unwanted effects of incomparability and aggregation in cross‐country analysis. We use a unique panel data set from 183 villages in Pakistan to analyze the impact of decentralization reforms implemented in 2001 on the provision of services—street paving, construction of water canals, sanitation sewer lines, and school facilities. Our results show that the magnitude of provision of all services increased significantly following decentralization reforms. We further show that the four services are impacted differently and service delivery improvement is not uniform, but not in ways that conform to the hypotheses of patronage theory. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Is the Assessment of Dental Age by the Nolla Method Valid for Eastern Turkish Children?

The aim of this study was to investigate whether or not the Nolla method is appropriate for Turkish children for the determination of the dental age (DA). A group of 719 children between the ages of 6 and 18 years were included in the study. DAs from orthopantograms by the Nolla method were estimated. The results obtained were compared with chronologic age (CA). Paired t and the Wilcoxon tests were performed. Both genders were underestimated in dental maturity when compared with the reference samples in total (-0.3 years) (p<0.01). The differences in girls were statistically significant in total and in all groups except for 7-7.9. The differences in boys between the CAs and DAs were not statistically significant in total and in all groups except for 7-7.9 and 8-8.9. Although the accuracy of this method was suitable for boys, according to our findings, it was not suitable for girls.