Securitising Kurdistan

Abstract: The aim of this thesis is to investigate how the Kurdish question in Turkey has affected the country‘s security policies during the time between 1984 and 2005. To do this, several different factors are analysed, such as the securitisation of the Kurdish question, the (non)involvement of the civil society, and several state institutions. These institutions are the armed forces (TSK), the National Intelligence Organisation (MIT), and the National Security Council (MGK). These specific institutions are chosen because they are crucial in the securitisation and handling of the Kurdish question in Turkey. Furthermore, Turkey‘s foreign policies will also be analysed insofar it has been affected by the Kurdish presence in Turkey and its neighbouring countries. This thesis will seek to show that the Kurdish question have indeed affected Turkish policies and the Turkish society on virtually all levels. The securitisation of the issue has meant that the military has gained a notoriously strong position in the society; it has brought with it a negative spiral, where the securitisation have led to increased violence, which in turn have justified both the initial and further securitisation. The securitisation have also meant that the use of extreme measures, such as murder, torture and kidnappings, have been normalised not only among the military personnel, but the wider Turkish civil population as well. The thesis argues that the Kurdish question, and indeed Turkey as a whole, would have been better served had it not been a securitised issue.