Labelling Ethno-Political Groups as Terrorists The Case of the PKK in Türkiye

Introduction

1 Labels in Conflict Discourse

2 The Labelling–Securitisation Nexus

3 The PKK: Transnational Kurdish Politics in Türkiye, Iraq, Iran, and Syria

4 The PKK: From Formation to Peace Negotiations

5 Securitising Kurdish Identity: How the “Terrorist” Label Shapes the PKK in Tükiye

6 Women’s Participation in the PKK: From Guerrilla Beginnings to a Transnational Movement

7 Mediating the Terrorist Label: Turkish and International Coverage of the PKK (2011–2025)

8 Beyond the PKK: Transferability and Limits of the Terrorist Designation

9 From “Terrorist” Label to Conflict Transformation

Conclusion: De-labelling, De-securitisation, and Pathways Beyond the “Terrorist” Paradigm

Biography

Muhanad Seloom is Assistant Professor of Critical Security Studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, Qatar. He is also a researcher with the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Exeter.

"In this groundbreaking study, Muhanad Seloom traces more than three decades of conflict between the Turkish state and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to reveal the far-reaching power of a single word. Drawing on unprecedented access to archives, media databases, and over a decade of interviews with Kurdish voices across Türkiye and Syria, this book shows how the label “terrorist” reshaped strategies, silenced dialogue, and trapped generations in cycles of violence. From the PKK’s 1984 insurgency to its self-dissolution in 2025, Seloom charts decisive moments that defined the trajectory of one of the world’s most intractable conflicts. He unpacks how labels travel through governments, media, and international institutions, shaping not just state policies but everyday lives—stigmatising whole communities, radicalising identities, and closing off pathways to peace. At once deeply human and rigorously analytical, this book challenges readers to rethink what we mean when we say “terrorism” and to see how words themselves can escalate wars—or help end them. Perfect for students, scholars, policymakers, and anyone seeking to understand the politics of naming, this work is both a timely case study and a call for reimagining how we confront violence, identity, and the pursuit of peace.”

Cyndi Banks, Professor Emeritus of Criminology, Northern Arizona University Deputy Vice Chancellor, Arden University, London

"In his book Labelling Ethno-Political Groups as Terrorists, Muhanad Seloom sets out a thorough empirical study of the impact of labelling and processes of securitisation on the development of the PKK movement in Turkey and beyond as well as its perception in Turkey, Turkey’s neighbouring countries in the Middle East and further afield. Being labelled a terrorist group has powerful implications and can shape public views of legitimate protest, struggle for political or other rights, and minority communities. It allows states to use their overwhelming power through legislation, criminal justice and, at times, even the military to supress and eliminate a perceived or constructed threat to the nation, and of course, we have seen democratic and authoritarian states abusing their power to use such labels. Seloom has devoted a considerable amount of research time and energy to this long-term project, and the result is a unique in-depth insight into the particular case study of the PKK as a political movement and the processes of labelling and securitisation that shape how political movements operate and evolve. Combining qualitative interviews with participants from PKK members to Kurdish citizens and Kurdish activists opposed to the PKK content and discourse analyses of official and state documents and media representations, this book documents how the terrorist label is experienced and how it affects identity and a sense of political exclusion. A particularly commendable feature of this book and oft neglected in research on political struggles is its focus on the role of women in the PKK. Longstanding political struggles, costly in human life and economic resources, have impacted countries and communities across the world. What this exceptional book provides is a better understanding of how the main state responses through labelling, securitisation, and counter-terrorism activities affect the political movements, how they can be counterproductive in bringing conflicts to an end and instead prevent resolution. I would recommend this book to students and scholars of political conflict, women’s roles in political conflict, and labelling and securitisation. This book makes a significant contribution to scholarship and should be commended for that." 

Martina Feilzer, Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Bangor University, Director of the Welsh Centre for Crime and Social Justice, Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales