The Management of Identities in and by Turkey’s Political Parties
Abstract
This paper grew out of my surprise that, while like France, Turkey envisions
itself as a universalist and unified republic, Turkey confronts far more significant
problems of identity. In fact, Turkey’s identity-related problems, which
have centered on specific ethnic and denominational issues since the 1980s, have recently increased in intensity. Identity
politics has since become a means of claiming and proclaiming particularist
rights, which are often expressed in terms of correcting wrongs or of demanding
recognition. This development has been associated with various tensions
and very high levels of conflict, particularly, but not exclusively, regarding the
Kurdish question. More broadly, growth among a range of
movements has been accompanied by an increasing tendency to interpret
social problems through the lens of a wide range of identitary interpretations.
For example, the Islamist movement is read through issues of identity. Political
actors have been forced to take action concerning the growing importance of
identity issues compelled to find ways of managing them, although such questions
are often settled and regulated outside “legitimate” policies...