Failures of the Discourse of Ethnicity:

This article analyzes the discursive-ideational barriers restricting regional cooperation by examining Turkey’s relations with Iraqi Kurds from a critical, theoretical perspective in the context of Turkey’s domestic reforms and its relations with the USA and the EU. It is argued that the ethnicity discourse undermines cooperation, insofar as it feeds the perception of rival groups with zero-sum inter-ests. Presenting a simple model, the article argues that replacing the ethnicity discourse with alternative, post-ethnic discourses requires combining alternative discourses with policies that produce positive-sum interests, coordination between groups, and opportunities for joint collective actions. Hence, state capacity to formulate and imple-ment such policies is crucial. Predictions and policy implications are generated accordingly. First, further reconciliation of Turkey’s domestic Kurdish conflict through democratic and administrative reforms, EU integration, and the promotion of national-identit