The Kurdish Identity of Turkish Nationalist Thinkers: Ziya Gökalp and Ahmet Arvasi between Turkish Identity and Kurdish Ethnicity

Abstract

This article purports to study the national identity of two influential ideologues of Turkish nationalism, Ziya Gokalp and Ahmet Arvasi, their approach to Kurds and their rejection of such affiliations regardless of their background in a predominantly Kurdish milieu. Their worldviews were strikingly different regarding social matters but they both shared a common view regarding the hegemonic position of Turkish identity even in a Kurdish-majority region.