The counterinsurgent urban governance in postwar Diyarbakır: political securitisation alongside criminal insecurities

Autor(en)

Arjin Tas

Abstrakt

In the 2015–16 urban war, starting with the declarations of self-governance in the Kurdish region of Turkey, Sur, Diyarbakır became one of the primary urban fronts in the armed conflict between the Turkish state forces and the PKK. Yet, the systematic subjugation of the low-income Kurdish population in postwar Diyarbakır has not remained limited to Sur. In 2020, the Kaynartepe neighbourhood of Old Bağlar was declared ‘risky’ based on ‘disruption of public order or security’ and opened for urban transformation despite the absence of a self-governance declaration in 2015 or noticeable political activities since 2017. Moreover, despite intense policing of the neighbourhood since 2017, the area has become even more ‘dangerous’, notably with an increase in drug-related activities. This article examines these dynamics in Kaynartepe, in the context of counterinsurgent urban governance in postwar Diyarbakır, to argue that heavy securitisation and determination of ‘risk’ have paradoxically created an (in)securitised space, preventing political mobilisation while deepening social marginalisation of the Kaynartepe communities. Relying on findings from ethnographic fieldwork, I analyse counterinsurgent urban governance in ‘risky’ Kaynartepe from two perspectives: 1) securitisation of space and determination of political ‘risk’, and 2) spatial, social and political dilapidation in the face of criminalisation.

Organisation(en)

Institut für Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie

Journal

Justice, Power and Resistance

Band

9

Seiten

224-244

Anzahl der Seiten

21

ISSN

2635-2338

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1332/26352338Y2026D000000066

Publikationsdatum

04-2026

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

504034 Sozialanthropologie

Schlagwörter

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Law, Sociology and Political Science

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 11 – Nachhaltige Städte und Gemeinden, SDG 16 – Frieden, Gerechtigkeit und starke Institutionen

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/ace2be38-defa-4143-a953-9e72fe7b7f00