An Analysis Of Turkey’s Kurdish Policy In The Early Days Of The Republic

The Kurds are one of the four ancient nations in the Middle East,living mainly in an area known as the Kurdistan,on the borders of Turkey,Syria,Iraq and Iran.For nearly a thousand years in the Middle East,the Kurds failed to establish a state of their own.In contrast,the other three nations,the Jewish nation,the Arab nation,and the Turkish nation,all established states on their own lands.The main reason is that the Kurds have not developed a mature theoretical system of nationalism.Only in the late 19 th century did nationalist ideas spread from Europe to the Kurdistan.Since its inception,the Kurdish nationalism has had a profound influence on the foreign policy of the Ottoman Empire and,later,on Turkish statehood.From the perspective of international relations,Turkey’s Kurdish policy is the product of the changes in the international system and the struggle with the great powers,whose main purpose is to obtain national independence and safeguard territorial integrity.from the perspective of nation-state construction,turkey’s Kurdish policy is necessary for the state to gain the legitimacy of the regime.As a multi-ethnic country,the primary task is to shape the overall national identity through ethnic construction after the founding of Turkey,and then obtain the legitimacy of the regime.From a nationalism point of view,Turkey’s Kurdish policy and the Kurds’ response is a contest between Turkish nationalism and the Kurdish nationalism.Because the Turks were more mature than the Kurds,Turkish nationalism eventually triumphed over the Kurdish nationalism and become a dominant discourse system.Thus,Turkish nationalism became the dominate ideology of Turkish national policy.This paper holds that Turkey should appropriately grant the Kurds national rights on the basis of maintaining Turkey’s status as a national subject and formulate national policies to better integrate the Kurds into the state.