The Kurdish Issue in Turkey: Duality in the League of Nations: Security or Sovereignty?
Summary
Despite the vast research on the League of Nations and its impact - or, as many researches conclude, its non- impact - little is known about the perspective of its subjects. Although the League aimed to provide security and self-determination to all ethnic groups, Kurds were, as this research will illustrate, left behind in these promises. In understanding the subordinated position of Kurds in former Ottoman territory, and in this case, Turkish territory, the process of state-building is core. In this thesis, Turkish Kurds are the central actor in researching how the altered attitude of the Allied Powers regarding the minority rights regime and Kurdish issue between 1920 and 1923 can be explained. By analysing the Treaty of Sèvres (1920) and Treaty of Lausanne (1923), an explanation is sought for the diminishing Kurdish representation in policy making. All in all, it is concluded that the currently stil dominant ideas of the League’s legacy are perhaps insufficient, if not incorrect.