Kurdish Hizbullah in Turkey: Islamism, Violence and the State

Hizbullah is commonly misunderstood in the west, and the differences between Hizbullah in Lebanon, whose followers are mainly adherents of the Shiite sect of Islam, and Hizbullah in Turkey, which is made up of Sunnis, specifically Shafii Kurds, are even less known. In Kurdish Hizbullah in Turkey, Mehmet Kurt seeks to change this, by charting the development of this powerful and misconstrued Islamist social movement from its origins in violent militancy to a more civic mode of engagement—an engagement that nonetheless provides a rationale for disenchanted young Islamists to engage in political violence. In this book, Kurt offers unique insight into Kurdish Hizbullah’s political rise and its integration of Kurdish Islamism in the region, showing how the group has successfully co-opted Kurdish nationalist discourses into an Islamist framework. Through ethnographic field work and extensive interviews with members, leaders, and supporters of Hizbullah, Kurt details how Islamic civil society managed to take root in a region where ethnic identity had been the primary factor in challenging a repressive and violent state.