The last “terrorist” - Kurdish Marginalized Perspectives in the Turkish Social And Political Landscape

Despite the vast research on the protracted conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state, recent battles in the South-East of Turkey have increased the anti-Kurdish attitudes and discourses in Turkish society. I argue that Kurdish marginalized individuals conflict understandings are silenced in the Turkish social and political landscape. This study examines how Kurdish social identities narrate their conflict understanding between Kurds and Turks. The aim is to get a deeper understanding of the Kurdish participant’s feelings, attitudes, experiences and perspectives in an intergroup environment. This study contributes to the knowledge of intergroup relations and tensions in the Turkish social setting and sheds light into out-group prejudice and discrimination in Turkey. The study uses a theoretical framework linking peace and conflict theories such as prejudice, discrimination, in-group and out-group, enemy images, cultural- structural and direct violence, intergroup contact theory and reconciliation. The dataset consists of sixteen semi-structured in-depth interviews conducted in three different cities in Turkey; Ankara, Diyarbakir and Istanbul. The interview material was analyzed through a thematic analysis with a qualitative approach. The research found that the identifying characteristics of being a Kurd in today’s Turkey are to fight against injustice, oppression, assimilation and shared feelings of discrimination. Keywords: Kurdish perspectives, thematic analysis, Oral History, out-group, discrimination, enemy images, cultural violence Words: 1394