The discourse of the justice and development party on the Kurdish and minority issues

The Justice and Development Party (JDP) administration during the 13 years in government developed a new political discourse for solution of ethnic issues in Turkey and started a new series of reform policies known as 'initiatives' which started as 'Kurdish Initiative' and it has been continuing for other ethnic and religious questions. The main purpose of this thesis is exploring the transformation of state discourse on Kurdish and Armenian questions after the ruling period of the JDP. The exploring the approaches of two mainstream political movements, Turkish Nationalism and Political Islam, on the ethnic and religious questions in a historical context is another important purpose of this thesis. Although Kurdish and Armenian questions are different social problems of Turkey, these questions are chosen as research areas. This study aims to examine the discursive similarities and differences on these two "apparently and historically different" ethnic problems to understand the approaches of 'conservative-democrats' on ethnic issues. The analysis of the JDP's discourse on these questions provides convenience in understanding the JDP's motivations, priorities and limitations in the 'Project of National Unity and Fraternity'. Perceptions of JDP administrations on different identities, the historical narratives and approaches of the JDP on the violence incidents are focal points to analyze the political discourse of the JDP.