"The kidnapping and condemnation of the PKK Leader Abdullah Ocalan represent a turning point in the development of the Kurdish problem in the Middle East. Although the Turkish state achieved a strategic victory, the Kurdish conflict is yet to be politically solved. The question whether the Turkish state elite will be willing in this new context to change its repressive policy against the Kurds and assume a new political orientation remains open. In the current volume social scientists from different disciplines analyse the various dimensions and aspects of the Kurdish conflict. At the core of the interest are the controversy on the political implementation of violence, the relevance of the international law for the conflict, the regional and foreign relations of the PKK, and the chances and obstacles of a peaceful democratic conflict resolution. CONTENTS: Hamit Bozarslan, ""Why the armed Struggle?"" Understanding the Violence in Kurdistan of Turkey; Michael Gunter, The Kurdish Question and International Law; Gülistan Gürbey, Peaceful Settlement of Turkey`s Kurdish Conflict through Autonomy; Amr Hamzawy, Contemporary Arab Academic and Journalistic Perceptions of the Kurdish Problem; Ferhad Ibrahim, The ""Foreign Policy"" of the PKK: Regional Allies and Enemies; Robert Olson, Turkey`s Relations with Syria since Gulf War: The Kurdish Question and the Water Problem; Baskin Oran, Linguistic Minority Rights in Turkey, the Kurds, and Globalization; Norman Peach, International Law and the Kurdish Struggle for Freedom; Heidi Wedel; Migration and Displacement - Kurdish Migrants in Instanbul in the 1990s Dr. Gülistan Gürbey teaches at the Middle Eastern Study Section, Department of Political and Social Science at Free University of Berlin. Dr. Ferhad Ibrahim teaches at the Middle Eastern Study Section, Department of Political and Social Science at Free University of Berlin. Currently he is guest professor at the University of Jordan in Amman. "