Turkey-Iraq Borderland in the Context of Border Habitus and Cross-Border Tribal Social Capital

In this study, the sociocultural structure of the Turkey-Iraq borderland is analysed from a sociological perspective. Firstly, a theoretical framework on border culture and interactions in the borderland was drawn and then general information about the political and historical background of the Turkey-Iraq border was given. The data obtained from this research, which is based on the ethnographic method, are categorized and interpreted under some basic headings. In this framework, it is shown how and why the habitus of the statist/official border and the habitus of the border people/borderlanders are opposed to each other. Then it is pointed out how tribal social capital plays a role in cross-border economic relations and marriages. In conclusion, this article has tried to show how and through which factors the tribes and kinship groups divided by the Turkey-Iraq border maintain their common bonds despite the border.