ืืืืข ืขื ืืกืคืจ ืืืืืืืื ืืื
The Kurds, who number some twenty-eight million people in the Middle East, have no country to call their own. Yet today, they are highly visible actors on the world's political stage. To understand modern-day Kurdsโand their continuing demands for an independent stateโwe must understand the Kurdistan Workersโ Party (PKK). A guerilla force founded in 1978, the PKK radicalized the Kurdish national movement in Turkey, becoming a tightly organized, well-armed fighting force of some 15,000, with a 50,000-member civilian militia in Turkey and tens of thousands of active backers in Europe.ย
Aliza Marcus, one of the first Western reporters to meet with PKK rebels, wrote about their war for many years before being put on trial in Turkey for her reporting. Based on her interviews with PKK rebels and their supporters and opponents throughout the worldโincluding the Palestinians who trained them, the intelligence services that tracked them, and the dissidents who tried to break them upโMarcus provides an in-depth account of this influential radical group.
Blood and Belief combines reportage and scholarship to give the first in-depth account of the PKK. Aliza Marcus, one of the first Western reporters to meet with PKK rebels, wrote about their war for many years for a variety of prominent publications before being put on trial in Turkey for her reporting. Based on her interviews with PKK rebels and their supporters and opponents throughout the worldโincluding the Palestinians who trained them, the intelligence services that tracked them, and the dissidents who tried to break them upโMarcus provides an in-depth account of this influential radical group.
