This chapter questions the urban/rural distinction, given that in times of conflict and demographic volatility, borders between urban and rural are diminished and events in the countryside shape those of the city and vice versa. Accordingly, it considers the impact of Turkish security forces’ counterinsurgency strategy of mass forced displacement not only on rural areas but also how it reconfigured Kurdish urban centres. It outlines the implementation of the forced evacuation of potentially millions of rural Kurds in order to deprive the PKK of its local support networks. The chapter shows the emotional trauma and the violence of the experiences, which led to the relocation of PKK support from the countryside to the cities. It also addresses the disaggregated strategies of state repression, particularly the so-called deep state that operated outside of any form of democratic accountability. The chapter also covers the state’s relationship with an Islamist movement, Hezbollah, used to target Kurdish intellectuals and politicians and to analyses how the PKK mobilised in Kurdish cities, focusing in particular on Serhildans (Uprisings), Newroz celebrations and guerrilla funerals.

“This chapter traces the transformation of the Kurdish issue into a transnational indigenous one. It argues that we rethink and shift our analyst categories in tandem with this transformation. By considering the impact of diaspora, Rojava and indigeneity, the chapter argues that the Kurdish issue should no longer simply be conceived as ‘minority rights within a state/regional system’ but one which centres on the issue of Kurdish transnational indigeneity. It argues that Kurdish roots will continue to be articulated through transnational routes. The chapter considers the significance of Kurdish transnational indigeneity for understanding indigeneity and transnationality, as well as the various possible consequences of the Kurdish issue being increasingly framed and understood as a transnational indigenous one. It calls for a linguistic and conceptual shift towards transnational indigeneity in the field of Kurdish studies.”