"The 'self-Turkification' of some Kurds
Onder Aytac & Emre Uslu
aytac.uslu@gmail.com
21 December 2006
The Kurdish question has emerged largely because the state elites have tried to assimilate Turkey's Kurdish population into the 'Turkish zone.' Yet despite the state elites' harsh policies to that end, unlike other minorities, the Kurdish people have refused to give up their Kurdish identity. Opinions on this issue vary. Some say because of the state's harsh, rigid policies toward the Kurds' cultural demands, such as banning the Kurdish language, music, etc., the Kurds responded in kind to defend their identity. On the other end of the spectrum, some people still argue that Turkey moved to democracy too soon. Because of the democratization process in the 1950s, the republican nation-building project was interrupted, retarding the 'internalization' of the Kurds. "
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