The life of Sakine Cansiz mirrors the history of the Kurdish People. To become known as an active champion of human rights, democracy and feminism, she had to be tortured, to receive more wounds as an active soldier in a vicious guerrilla war, ad to become an assassin's target. For the Kurds to get any attention, they've had to be gassed by Saddam Hussein or invaded by ISIS. Now the world can see them as the only effective fighters against ISIS, and see their success in establishing truly democratic communities in a region that knows only oppressive rulers. Who are they? What do they want? Why can't they have a country? "Kurdish-American writer Hamma Mirwaisi uses the 2013 execution-style murder of Kurdish feminist activist Sakine Cansiz in Paris as a launching point to explain Kurdish history, Kurdish aspirations, and the Kurds' insurgency against Turkey - a conflict measured not in decades but in centuries. Whatever one;s perspective, one thing is clear: neither the Kurds nor the PKK can be ignored any longer. The Accidental Martyr may infuriate Turkish nationalists and frustrate diplomats, but it is a must-read to understand where the PKK has been and where Syria and Turkey's Kurds may be going".(Michael Rubin, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute). "Hamma Mirwaisi is a great storyteller, and uses the astonishing life and assassination of Sakine Cansiz to weave together the histories of current Turkish president Recip Tayyip Erdogan, reclusive Fethullah Gulen, the rise of Abdallah Ocalan and the evolution of the PKK from a terrorist gang in Turkey to a de facto democratic government of large parts of Syria and Iraq. Readers will gain an essential understanding of the vicious multi-sided civil war in Syria and its roots in the complicated relationships among the big powers and local States created after the First World War by short-sighted partitions. The book provides a fascinating review of the Kurdish belief that this is just another part of a thousand-year-long effort to prevent the formation of their nation ... and their thousand-year struggle to achieve it.." -- Seth Ward, University of Wyoming"A wonderful account of Kurdish history and their right to exist as a separate culture. This is a timely counterpoint to the misinformation communicated by international media and governments."-- P. Gallagher, author, Linked-In Security."A very good combination of the history and politics of the old yet new history of the Kurds and their enemies helps you understand the reality of who the PKK is and how it continues its struggling for freedom."M.P, lecturer in Mid-Eastern history [name and institution withheld due to political considerations]"With attention to detail and an easy flow, Kurdish-American writer Hamma Mirwaisi takes readers on Sakine Cansiz' journey from civil disorder in the 1960s to Diyarbakir's torture prison, to guerilla mountain warfare leader and the Paris diplomatic circuit and eventually to execution-style murder in 2013. Her case is still open: everyone knows who did it, but the police cannot or will not prove it. Along the way, he explains many of the political, cultural and historical reasons why the Kurds persevere in seeking a national identity and why women like Cansiz continue to flock to the PKK. Turkey and many Western governments label the PKK as a terrorist group, and Mr. Mirwaisi makes no bones about the reality of that history ... a must-read to understand where the PKK has been and where Turkey and Syria's Kurds may be going." --Michael Rubin, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute "Hamma Mirwaisi is a great storyteller, and uses the astonishing life and assassination of Sakine Cansiz to weave together the histories of current Turkish president Recip Tayyip Erdogan, reclusive Fethullah Gulen, the rise of Abdallah Ocalan and the evolution of the PKK from a terrorist gang in Turkey to a de facto democratic government of large parts of Syria and Iraq. Readers will gain an essential understanding of the vicious multi-sided civil war in Syria and its roots in the complicated relationships among the big powers and local States created after the First World War by short-sighted partitions. The book provides a fascinating review of the Kurdish belief that this is just another part of a thousand-year-long effort to prevent the formation of their nation ... and their thousand-year struggle to achieve it.." -- Seth Ward , University of Wyoming "A wonderful account of Kurdish history and their right to exist as a separate culture. This is a timely counterpoint to the misinformation communicated by international media and governments." -- P. Gallagher , author, Linked-In Security "A very good combination of the history and politics of the old yet new history of the Kurds and their enemies helps you understand the reality of who the PKK is and how it continues its struggling for freedom." -- M.P , lecturer in Mid-Eastern history [name and institution withheld