"turkey: In the Kurdish region, feudal bonds sway politics and warfare
When Mustafa Kacmaz beat his rival in a 2003 race for mayor in the remote Kurdish village of Kaygisiz in Southeastern Turkey, his strongest weapon was the blessing of family elders.
The support of ageing and uneducated uncles may not be a critical asset elsewhere, but in Kaygisiz, where Kacmaz elders preside a 5,000-strong clan, it is 63 percent of the vote.
“Parties and ideologies do not mean much here,” the 45-year-old mayor, who belongs to a small center-right party, said in his shabby office. “People listen to the word of their elders.”
His story is common in the predominantly Kurdish Southeast, where a large part of the population still lives in tribes or clans bound by economic and kinship ties, representing a political force to reckon with.
Eager to grab large chunks of votes, politicians negotiate the support of tribal leaders ahead of elections, promising services and jobs for the impoverished region devastated by years of bloody conflict between Kurdish rebels and the army."
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