Turkey's Kurdish Question from an Educational Perspective

Book excerpt: Turkey’s Kurdish question is a long-standing issue which gained special importance after the start of armed conflict between Kurdish insurgents and Turkish security forces. Despite multiple failed attempts to solve the Kurdish question, it remains the most significant issue in Turkey today. This book approaches Turkey’s Kurdish question for the first time from an educational perspective. It scrutinizes the relationship between the ideological Kemalist education and the challenges facing Kurdish pupils educated in Turkish public schools. Turkey’s Kurdish Question from an Educational Perspective represents a comprehensive examination of all major factors in education—teachers, curriculum, policy documents, educational attainments and textbooks—that might possibly affect Kurds. It sheds a critical spotlight on the educational side of the issue, offering a summary of existing challenges, ways to deal with these problems, and the proposal of long-term solutions to achieve permanent peace in the region.