The politics of civic identity in Turkey: 2011-2017

When the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) succeeded in gaining significant support amongst the non-Kurdish electorate in the June 2015 election, many believed Türkiyelileşme – the political strategy of appealing to the non-Kurdish electorate across Turkey through broad alliances with Turkish progressive movements – was the reason behind HDP's success. Due to this, much literature tended to emphasise how HDP's Türkiyelileşme discourse was a transformation from their more ethno-nationalist predecessor parties. Through a historical discursive analysis of pro-Kurdish political party activism since the 1960s until the emergence of the HDP, this thesis instead argues that the discourse displayed by Kurdish activists since the emergence of pro-Kurdish parties in the 1990s has always displayed a Türkiyelileşme discourse. Moreover, this thesis analyses different periods where pro-Kurdish parties have utilised a more ethno-nationalist discourse and periods characterised by a Türkiyelileşme agenda. While many have interpreted pro-Kurdish activism as either ethno-nationalist or Türkiyelileşme, I argue that party activism is defined by both extremes. While the more inclusive Türkiyelileşme characterises pro-Kurdish party activism during periods of relative peace and stability, when state coercion is used against the party, pro-Kurdish activists tend to 'return to their heartlands' and utilise a more ethno-nationalist political stance. Thus, this thesis aims to draw links between the level of pressure asserted on pro-Kurdish politics and the political strategy with which HDP and its predecessor parties have chosen to follow.