ABSTRACT
T HE KURDISH question in Turkey today is highly complex. Economic, social and political (domestic as well as international) factors must be taken into account. The Kurdish question is also tied up with the transformation of Turkey from a traditional society, where identities were religiously determined at a communal level, to a modern society, where the aim was to define an individual's identity at the state level. The driving force behind this transformation was Turkish nationalism. In its early stages it seemed that the Turkish nationalist elite had in mind the creation ofa national identity which would be territorially defined. This could have developed into a form of civic nationalism in which there was scope for multiculturalism and expressions of Kurdish cultural and ethnic identity. However, the nationbuilding and state-building processes culminated in the establishment of a strongly centralized regime.
