Türkiye’de Uç Sağ ve Kürtler, 1945-1980: Güvenlik, Kimlik ve Kalkınma

Abstract

KOCA, Bayram, Far Right and The Kurds, 1945-1980 in Turkey: Security, Identity and Development, Ph.D. Thesis, 2019, Ankara. The aim of this Ph.D. thesis is to examine the discourse of the far right about the Kurdish issue in the context of the concepts of “security”, “identity” and “development” during 1945-1980 period. Far right, led by Nihal Atsız, Necip Fazıl Kısakürek began to crystallize through magazines towards the end of the early Republican period, first they existed as a faction in the right-wing parties with the transition to multi-party life and then established their own political parties. In addition, during the Cold War period, Turkish Nationalists Association, National Turkish Union of Student, Akinji Movement, the Struggling Union, Anti-communist Instutions, Grey Wolves and The Intellectuals Hearth were important organizations of the far right. The main feature of the far right was anti-communism and it achieved legitimacy in the state in the framework of the struggle against communism during the Cold War period. It also emphasized national and religious values and Turkey's survival issue. The far right considered the Kurdish issue as a problem that emerged as a result of “the wrong policies” of the early Republican period and argued that communists were exploiting it during the Cold War. The far right considered Kurdish issue as a survival issue and said that the issue should be dealt within the framework of the struggle against communism. In the first chapter of the Ph.D thesis, the emergence of the far right, its institutions and general characteristics in the context of the conceptual and historical/political background of the study will be explained and the development of the Kurdish issue from the Ottoman Empire to the present day will be discussed. Other chapters of this study will discus the views of different categories of the far right, which are Secular Turkish-Turcanists, Mainstream Nationalists, Mainstream Islamists and Radical Islamists, on the Kurdish issue within the conceptual framework of “security”, “identity” and “development” and their proposed solution.