Durukan Kuzu, Multiculturalism in Turkey: The Kurds and the State

Abstract

Reviewed by: Multiculturalism in Turkey: The Kurds and the State by Durukan Kuzu Leyla Neyzi Durukan Kuzu. Multiculturalism in Turkey: The Kurds and the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. 204 pp. Cloth, $99.99. ISBN: 978-1108278461. Multiculturalism in Turkey: The Kurds and the State is a new and ambitious work which aims to contribute to the literature on national minorities through a case study of the Kurds. As one of the largest stateless populations in the world, with a long-standing resistance movement for recognition and rights, the Kurds have not yet found their deserved place in the theoretical literature, and Kurdish Studies remains a fledgling field. This lacuna means that this book will appeal to readers with an interest in political theory, national minorities, Kurdish studies and history, nationalism, and identity politics in Turkey. Durukan Kuzu's iconoclastic approach is bound to create debate and controversy. This succinct book consists of six main chapters. In chapter 2, Kuzu outlines the emergence of the concept of multiculturalism in political thought. He analyzes civic individualist egalitarianism/assimilationism versus multiculturalism as two different means states have chosen to deal with national minorities. He refers to recent debates in the literature to distinguish between ethnocentric multiculturalism and moderate multiculturalism. In chapter 3, Kuzu compares the experiences of national minorities around the globe, developing a typology which includes recognized minorities (Québécois, Flemish), oppressed minorities (non-Muslims in Turkey, Muslim Turks in Greece), and minorities of assimilation and integration (Kurds, Corsicans). In chapter 4, Kuzu provides a historical overview of the Kurds in Turkey. He suggests that while the non-Muslims were always the state's "Other," the modern Turkish state attempted to integrate Kurds (and other Muslims) on the basis of civic nationalism. He points out that the Kurds in Turkey are heterogenous, being divided by class, ethnicity, language, and religion. He contends that because the Kurds assimilated/integrated, remain internally divided, and maintain multiple identities, ethnicized politics is supported only by a minority. In chapter 5, Kuzu analyzes the Justice and Development Party's approach to the Kurdish issue. He outlines policy changes during the 2000s, such as the creation of a state TV channel broadcasting in Kurdish, the teaching of the Kurdish language in some private schools, the devolution of power to regional municipalities, the changing of laws on crimes of "terrorism," and the initiation of talks with the PKK (the Kurdish Workers' Party). In what might be among the most controversial arguments of the book, Kuzu claims that these reforms failed in so far as they resulted in greater inequalities for Kurds and increased conflict between the Turks and the Kurds. [End Page 273] Chapter 6 is centered on a detailed comparison of the Corsican and the Kurdish cases. According to Kuzu, unlike Ireland, the usual go-to case for comparison, Corsica provides a more apposite parallel to the Kurdish case. Historically, Turkey followed the example of France in pursuing a discourse of civic nationalism. In the case of France, while the majority of Corsicans assimilated to French national identity, a separatist movement also emerged. While the rise of multiculturalist policies led France to give Corsica greater autonomy in the recent period, most Corsicans do not support the separatist movement. Studies have suggested that multiculturalist policies may have exacerbated the conflict. On the basis of his own research, including interviews conducted between 2009 and 2011, the analysis of survey data and secondary sources, Kuzu argues that the Kurdish case bears a striking resemblance to that of Corsica. He goes on to critique multiculturalist policies, suggesting that Turkey needs to develop a moderate approach to provide a balance between civic nationalism and ethnocentric multiculturalism. The strength of this book consists of its attempt to contribute to the theoretical literature on national minorities through a case study of the Kurds, which increases the visibility of a relatively understudied and undertheorized subject. Its weaknesses derive from its overambitious claims, its overreliance on the Corsican case as a fit for the Kurdish one, and, most importantly, from the question of whether its argument squares with the experience of the Kurds—both historically and in the present. While the discourse of the...