Coping Strategies of The Kurdish Women Towards Deprivation Situations After the Conflict-Induced Internal Displacement in Turkey

Abstract

There is an ongoing internal armed conflict in Turkey between the state security forces and the non-state armed group, Kurdish Worker’s Party (PKK) since 1984. This paper explores and critically analyzes the experiences of the Kurdish women in Turkey after they have been displaced from their villages to the city centers by the state security forces. In-depth interviews have been conducted with 30 Kurdish women in three different cities; İstanbul, Mersin and Diyarbakır that Kurdish population mostly live after the displacement. Women and children have always seen as the main victims of the conflicts in the literature but in this paper, I explain how they may transform their victimization into empowerment. In this context, internally displaced Kurdish women’s experiences are analyzed according to the coping strategies that they have discovered in order to survive both their own and their family’s lives. Some of these strategies are, learning the pervasive language that is used among Turkish citizens in the cities (Turkish), learning how to read and write, dealing with the governmental agencies, working in low-paid jobs, searching for the humanitarian aids, etc.