ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the Kurdish struggle in the Southeast region of Turkey, which continues to remain one of the most divisive and intractable issues of Turkish politics. It analyzes the events and decisions of the period between 1923-1971, focusing in particular on the post-1950 liberalization reforms that helped to spur the class conflict in the 1960s and 1970s. The chapter examines the period between 1972-1991, when the Kurdistan Workers Party emerged as a dominant force in Kurdish radical politics, and when political liberalization provided a pragmatic and arguably acceptable approach to resolving the Kurdish issue. It also examines the period between 1992-2000, in which liberalization and demilitarization reflected a significant and deep shift towards demilitarization and de-radicalization. The chapter addresses the question by arguing that while demilitarization remains necessary for breaking the cycle, political liberalization needs to be accompanied by a pragmatic political solution: namely, the implementation of a right to cultural autonomy or self-administration.
