Kurdish Dance Identity in Contemporary Turkey

Kurdish Dance Identity in Contemporary Turkey

Fethi Karakeçili

York University

This is a study of Kurdish dance identity in contemporary Turkey and how successive government policies have impacted its recognition. In particular I focus on two distinct examples of Kurdish dance. In the Kurdish language dance is called dilan. The first example, Delilo, is a simple folk dance which has become highly politicized. It is arguably the most common folk dance in Kurdistan. The second example is the Kurdish dance widely known by the Turkish name Galuç. It is a more complicated and choreographed dance, which is renowned nationally and internationally. The name of this dance in Kurdish is Pale.
The political situation for Kurds living in Turkey has been a difficult one at best. The Kurds, denied their culture and identity, have had to assimilate with the broader Turkish national culture or risk political persecution. I was born and grew up in the Kurdish area of Turkey as a Kurd and experienced this policy first …

Table of Contents

Abstract / iv
Dedication / vi
Acknowledgements / vii
Introduction / 1

I. Introduction to Kurdistan and Kurdish Culture / 1
Geography of Kurdistan / 13
History of Kurdistan / 16
Religions of Kurdistan / 19
Kurdish Culture / 22
Language / 24
Engagements and Weddings / 24
Circumcisions / 30
Newroz (New Year’s) / 31

II. Cultural Policy in Contemporary Turkey / 33
Turkish Government’s Political Influence on Kurdish Dances / 37
State Conservatories and Folk-Dance Departments / 39
Turkish Government’s Folk-Dance Policy and Influences on
Kurdish Dances in Competitions and Festivals / 41
Performing Kurdish Dances in Kurdish and Non-Kurdish Regions in Turkey / 46

III. Overview of Kurdish Dance / 50
Men's Dances / 53
Women's Dances / 56
Mixed Dances / 60
Animal Imitation / 64
Spiritual Dances / 65
Kurdish Costumes in General / 70
Women's Costumes / 71
Men's Costumes / 78
Musical Accompaniment / 82
IV. Delilo: The Universal Kurdish Dance / 88
V. Galuf or Pale: The Kurdish Dance on the National and
International Stage / 97

Bibliography / 108

ABSTRACT

This is a study of Kurdish dance identity in contemporary Turkey and how successive government policies have impacted its recognition. In particular I focus on two distinct examples of Kurdish dance. In the Kurdish language dance is called dilan. The first example, Delilo, is a simple folk dance which has become highly politicized. It is arguably the most common folk dance in Kurdistan. The second example is the Kurdish dance widely known by the Turkish name Galuç. It is a more complicated and choreographed dance, which is renowned nationally and internationally. The name of this dance in Kurdish is Pale.

The political situation for Kurds living in Turkey has been a difficult one at best. The Kurds, denied their culture and identity, have had to assimilate with the broader Turkish national culture or risk political persecution. I was bom and grew up in the Kurdish area of Turkey as a Kurd and experienced this policy first hand. In this thesis, I discuss at length the Turkish government’s educational system and the teaching of folk dance within it. At the heart of this discussion is the government’s re-identifying of Kurdish dances as Turkish, so as to make them fit the nationalistic goals of the Turkish Republic.

Literature on this issue is difficult to find in any language. Although a number of currently available books focus on the politics of the situation of Kurds in Turkey, information on culture, specifically dance, is exceptionally difficult to find. In July of2007, I travelled to the Kurdish Institute in Paris (Institut Kurde de Paris) to do more research and secure valuable resources for this work. Viewing the Institute’s extensive collection, I gained a wider and more comprehensive knowledge of Kurdish culture, dance and music, addition I called upon much of my work in preparing my Master’s thesis for the Istanbul Technical University, “Influence of Culture on Men’s and Women’s Costumes in the Şanliurfa Region” (1997). My earlier research for my thesis in Turkey laid the groundwork for the present study.

Acknowledgements

This thesis would not have been possible without the direction and support of many. I would like to extend my gratitude to the York University Dance Department faculty and administrative staff.
I am greatly indebted to my thesis supervisor, Dr. Selma Odom for the tremendous support, knowledge, guidance and patience in assisting me develop this work. I would also like to thank Dr. Mary Jane Warner for her constant support, humour and insight.

I would also like to thank the staff of the Kurdish Institute in Paris France for hosting me in the summer of 2007 and allowing me to research and host a symposium. In particular I would like to offer my gratitude to Kendal Nezan, President of the Institute.
I am indebted to many others, but wish to highlight the contributions of Dr. Irene Markoff^ Rhonda Ryman, Dr. Modesto Amegago, Louise Malisani, Robyn Ryman, Ida Meftahi, Ed Thompson, Karen Bennett and Paromita Kar.

Finally, I wish to thank Nico Barrett for his support and help and all my friends and family for their support and understanding during this process.

Introduction

The purpose of this thesis is to address the issues relating to the identity of Kurdishn dances in contemporary Turkey. It is ironic that although the current Turkish government accepts the reality of Kurds living within its borders, it does not ascribe to them any of the characteristics of culture, in this case — dance. It remains illegal to state that one is Kurdish or to identify a dance as Kurdish in Turkey. There are dozens of books written about dances in Turkey by dance scholars and anthropologists such as Metin And, Şerif Baykurt, Sadi Yaver Ataman and Şükru Elqin, but they consider all Kurdish culture and dances as Turkish. This is the tip of the cultural policy of assimilation. Most Kurdish dances have lost their unique identity because performances have been forbidden, especially if they feature authentic (village-style) music, costumes or steps. They have been reconstructed and renamed as dances with Turkish identities by dance instructors or state conservatories.

I was bom in the town of Hilvan in Şanliurfa city in the Kurdish part of Turkey and began folk dancing at an early age as is common throughout all of Kurdistan. I am Kurdish and grew up deeply immersed in my culture. When I was a student at Gaziantep University in Turkey, I realized that the dances I was taught and so familiar with, were being renamed and claimed as Turkish dances. When I was teaching these dances at the same University I was forced to change the names and re-invent the histories of many Kurdish dances so as to wipe away their true identity. I visited many Kurdish cities and villages in Turkey and I learned and performed with the inhabitants at weddings and special events. Nevertheless, I was unable to categorize or archive the dances as Turkish law forbade it.

Kurdish dances have their unique style that is quite different from the other folk dances from Turkey. They are community dances that employ many different hand positions and have unique footsteps. There are a lot of up and down shoulder and knee movements; hopping and jumping with their own styles; costumes are more vibrantly coloured. Each city and village or town has its own unique costumes and dances. Kurdish costumes use a number of hidden religious symbols, national colours and historical symbols. The music is diverse and ululations (tilili) are very important. When Kurdish people dance, the instrumental music can stop to allow singing. This is not as common a practice outside of Kurdistan in the rest of Turkey. Sometimes men and women use call and response vocals that are more frequent only in Kurdish music. Ululations and authentic make-up are forbidden in Turkish dance festivals or dance competitions, as they are Kurdish in origin. Some dances have their own stories that may be based in Kurdish folklore; these too are prohibited. It is very sad that Kurds are losing their cultural identity as older generations die away and the old traditions are banned among the young. Hugh Poulton is a scholar of Oriental and African studies who has written extensively about Turkish state policy. He notes this recreating of ethnicities and histories in his book, Top Hat, Grey Wolf and

Crescent:
The Kurdish problem is absolutely central to the whole question of ethnicity and nationalism in Turkey today, and there is little up-to-date and reasonably reliable literature on this topic. (209)
The concept of unity confirms our identity as people co-inhabitating the earth, both individually and collectively. An individual identity is akin to a fingerprint; no two are alike.

When a group of people shares a similar trait or set of characteristics they may form a collective identity. One of the most basic types of collective identity is culture. Preservation, dissemination and creation of cultural identity occur through dance as a cultural process. People who maintain and preserve dance culture are keeping the history and future of a culture alive.

Another type of collective identity that connects people is ethnicity. Ethnic and biological similarities may be physical size and shape, hair and eye colour and skin tone. Cultural characteristics or shared knowledge among people sharing ethnic ties may include language, world view, religious beliefs, political values, social organization, dress and food, eating customs, music and dance.

Folk dance is central to most ethnicities. It is often rooted in the history and traditions of the people and exemplifies much of the day-to day life for the people. Its roots lie deep within culture and incorporate the history of a people in its movements, gestures, dress and music. Folk dance is an organic synthesis of sound (music) and movement The Turkish folklorist and researcher Şerif Baykurt notes the importance of folk dance as a means to discovering one’s own history and self:

Folk dance represents the root to your background; it is powerful body language, it informs your every movement. It comes from your past and keeps your history alive within yourselves. (Baykurt, Şerif, Anadolu Kulturleri ve Turk Halk, 14)
Folk dance has been passed down over the centuries; its development is that of the culture, not of any one individual. Because of this transference, folk dance becomes a defining element of culture. Sometimes it is a key nationalistic element in nation building and cultural domination, such is the case in Turkey. It is unfortunate, however, that the identity and nationality of Kurdish folk dance has become diluted through assimilation by Turkish nationalism.

Following the founding of the modem Turkish Republic in the early part of the 20th century, the desire to Westernize the country was strong. At that time ballroom styles of ’ dancing were very popular throughout Europe, yet there was no tradition of couple dancing in Turkey. For the purpose of creating a national dance along current Western styles, representatives were sent to Sweden to develop a dance. During the 1920s Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, sent Selim Sun Tarcan to Sweden to study Swedish ballroom dancing as well as European dances. The purpose of these studies was to create a national ballroom dance that involved couple dancing. He did create a dance called Sari Zeybek, which was performed for Ataturk and other politicians upon his return to Turkey; however it had no great impact in the country. The concept of couple dancing was entirely foreign to the masses and was not adopted. But more importantly this kind of synthesized dance was not accepted because of the rich, organic tradition of folk dance in the country, Which official policies at the time sought to dismiss. Professor Arzu Ozturkmen, who teaches at Bogaziçi University in Istanbul, succinctly details post Ottoman dance in Turkey in the article, “Modem Dance Alla Turca.” This history is also detailed by Professor Şerif Baykurt, Professor of Folklore at Ankara University, in the book Turk Halkbilimi. The reality in present day Turkey is that folk dance, albeit in a bastardized form is immensely popular among all people. Anthony Shay is a renowned American academic expert on folk dance and choreographer who has focused on folk dance extensively. He has researched folk dance in Turkey and worked with the Turkish State Folk Dance Ensemble. He notes the overwhelming popularity of folk dance performances as a form of popular nationalist spectacle in Turkey.

Unlike other nations.. .in which urban elites regard their national ensembles as quaint and suitable for tourists, the performances of the Turkish State Folk Dance Ensemble resonate with Turks. Its performances are largely attended by Turks, for many of whom folk dancing constitutes a passion. (Shay, Choreographic Politics, 223)
The government support and patronage of the Ensemble allows for the falsification of the real roots of dance, music and costume to be perpetuated. Shay also notes that the government policy supports the nationalist goals through performances at folk dance competitions in Turkey:

The Ministry of Culture has, through its various folklore research and administrative departments, constructed a national network in which these amateur groups vie with one another in competition performances and appearances that begin locally and culminate in regional and finally national competitions. (Shay, Choreographic Politics, 214)

Dances from the region of Anatolia (the Asian part of Turkey) are varied and different from one another; there is an abundant mosaic of dance in the region. Indeed despite being labeled ‘Turkey’ the region composes a plurality of peoples, cultures and religions. However Anatolian and Mesopotamian ethnic identity has been forced many times to submit to the will of invading Babylonians, Hittites, Assyrians, Romans, Persians, Byzantines, Ottoman Turks, and other Central Asian Turkic speaking peoples, among others. But they could not achieve their goals as these lands, today, stand as open history museums, demonstrating their vast and rich heritages.

…..

Fethi Karakeçili

Kurdish Dance Identity in Contemporary Turkey:
The Examples of Delilo and Galuc

York University

Library of York University
Kurdish Dance Identity in Contemporary Turkey:
The Examples of Delilo and Ga Luc
Fethi Karakeçili

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies
In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements
for The Degree Of
Master of Arts

Graduate Program in Dance
York University
Toronto, Ontario

August 2008

Kurdish Dance Identity in Contemporary Turkey: the Exmples of
Delilo and Galuc
By Fethi Karakecili

a thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of York University in partial fulfillment of the requ irements for the degree of

Master of Arts
©

Permission has been granted to the Library of York University to lend or sell copies of this thesis, to the National Library of Canada to microfilm this thesis and to lend or sell copies of the film, and to University Microfilms to publish an abstract of this thesis.

The author reserves other publication rights, and neither the thesis nor extensive extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author’s written permission.

Faculty of Graduate Studies
I recommend that the thesis prepared
under my supervision by
Fethi Karakecili

entitled
Kurdish Dance Identity in Contemporary Turkey: The Examples of Delilo And Galuc

be accepted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of

Master of Arts
August 2008