Mountain Turks: state ideology and the Kurds in Turkey

Abstract

This article examines the implementation of the Turkish state ideology as a tool for persuading and assimilating the Kurds and other ethnic and linguistic groups. Existing studies emphasize that the Kurds were subjected to a systematic forced assimilation campaign by the new Kemalist state. This paper stresses that the formation of Turkey after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire is the root to understanding the ideological foundation of the Turkish state’s denial of the Kurds, their history, language and even their existence. This has huge implications for Turkey’s claims to secular democracy, its regional stature and aspirations to join the European Union