The politicization of Kurdish

The politicization of Kurdish

Summary

Turkey has been the centre of conflicts after the introduction of homogenizing nationalism. The politicization of Kurdish evolved after the Ottoman Empire decided to shift from the multi-cultural and multi-ethnic realities to the new model of the nation-state. The decision made by the Ottoman empire of governing the nation instead of ruling it contributed to ethnic identity politicization. The Sultan only managed to rule the urban centres, therefore lacking administrative means of ruling the whole empire. Failing to offer centralized and regularized administration brought conflict between the state and local power structures.

Mustafa Kemal came into rescue after introducing the modernization project in various sectors, including urbanization and education. Mobilization of Kurdish nationalism came to be after the creation of regional differences and Kurdish elite, which resulted from the modernization project. Kurdish nationalism is seen as a natural force. The identity entrepreneurs construct the nationalism, whereas the political context shapes it. State presence differentiates Kurdish nationalism from Turkish nationalism. The nation-state modernization formed Turkish nationalism while Kurdish nationalism was established as a response to the modernization. The struggle of maintaining local and cultural autonomy and homogenization forces created a tension that gave rise to Kurdish nationalism.  The five stages describe the construction of Kurdish nationalism. Each of these stages explains the relations in state-society as well as the framing of Kurdish identity.

The first stage is Anti-Centralization revolts and politicization of Islamic identity. This stage examines the centralization policies impact on the Ottoman state.  The centralization attempts to politize the religious and ethnic identities. The tribal revolts practised by the Kurdish against the government emerged after the modernization policies of the state were centralized. This centralization aimed at destroying the tribal coalitions and ties. The Kadiri Sufi and Naksibendi orders were reactivated as well as the seyh, which emerged as a conflict manager between tribal networks and diverse tribes of Kurdish. The removal of these tribal ties engaged Islamic identity and improved Sufi networks. The Kurdish nationalism and Islam close relationship were cut short by the continued Islam and Turkish nationalism. The centralization policies, therefore, succeeded in loosening tribal structures but not eradicating them. As a result, Islamic networks politicization evolved.

The second stage is known as national secularization. It examines the reaction of Kurdish tribes after Mustafa introducing the modernization project. Also, this stage elaborates the consequences of socio-political as well as the transformation to the new nation-state. Kurdish proto-nationalism was articulated through the maintenance of self-governing tribal structures. The Republican ideology brought about by Mustafa either recreated political language which prohibited mentioning the word, ‘Kurds,’ or opposed the Kurd’s existence. The modernization reforms helped in constructing the Kurdish identity as tribal and reactionary.

The third stage is the Secularization of the Kurdish question through Socialism. In the 1960s and 1970s, socialist ideology interaction led to the secularization of Kurdish in Turkey. New intellectuals took part in shaping the Kurdish identity, rather than the obvious religious and tribal leaders. The 1961 constitution helped these intellectuals in expressing their grievances and concerns for Kurdish, in the aim of promoting Kurds self-determination. They dominated the left-wing movement of Turkey during this period. Kurdish nationalism provided an opportunity for regional and class differences suppression.

The fourth stage is the emergence of PKK. PKK helped in realizing the political consciousness of Kurdish and consolidating and popularizing the Turkish nationalism. The PKK also helped sabotage the religio-tribal structure, thus creating new opportunities to urbanized youth and middle class. Serious divisions for the roles of identity and culture which exist among the Kurds, also exist among the Turks in Turkey

The final stage relates the Kurdish problem to a European problem. The existence of Kurdish problems puts Turkey at the risk of international criticism. The military, however, approached all means of stopping the PKK activities from helping prevent polarization of the nation along ethnic lines. To solve the Kurdish problem in Turkey, the nation had to recognize the Kurds cultural rights.

The politicization of Kurdish identity resulted from the creation of ethnic-based regimes and eradication of multi-ethnic. Turkish modernization played a vital role in increasing communication and mobilizing the ethnic consciousness of Kurdish. The Kurdish problem is an obstacle to democratic and human rights and legal reforms in Turkey.