State and Kurds in Turkey

The current literature on the Kurds in Turkey is based on the assumption that since the 19th century the State has attempted to assimilate the Kurds and that this has been the cause of the intermittent “troubles” in Turkey. Metin Heper argues that this theory does not stand up to scrutiny given the many centuries of amicable relations between the State and the Kurds. He suggests that a theory of acculturation rather than assimilation better captures the real nature of State-Kurd interaction in Turkey, by not leaving any part of that interaction unaccounted for.

METIN HEPER is Professor of Politics and Dean of the Faculty of Economics, Administrative and Social Sciences at Bilkent University, Turkey and is a founding and Council member of the Turkish Academy of Sciences. He served as Research Fellow at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Manchester, UK, and Harvard Universities and as Visiting Professor at the University of Connecticut and Brandeis and Princeton Universities. His books include State Tradition in Turkey, Ismet Inönü: The Making of a Turkish Statesman, and the Historical Dictionary of Turkey.

Assimilation Argument Revisited * Tolerance as Acceptance of Difference * Search for a New Identity * Distant Though Not Disliked * A Nation in the Making * Republic and the Kurds * Times of Troubles in Republican Times * Conclusion