This article re-conceptualizes the notion of Kurdishness by distinguishing between two different political identities – "traditional" and "new" – within the Kurdish struggle. Each identity has crafted its own history, politics, social and cultural frameworks, and economic and diplomatic relations. I discuss the process of identity construction within both blocs, which has split political identity according to bipolar discourses and dichotomous labels: Good Kurds vs Bad Kurds, Old Kurds vs New Kurds, Submissive Kurds vs Subversive Kurds, Collaborator Kurds vs Terrorist Kurds, and, finally, Honourable Kurds vs Dishonourable Kurds. These form parts of a new divided Kurdish political identity based on the Kurds' own perspectives and self-identification, as well as their descriptions of one another, in the current political arena.
* This study was published in the 12th issue of AlMuntaqa, a peer-reviewed academic journal for the social sciences and humanities. You can read the full paper here.
