ETHNICITIES, cilt.19, sa.1, ss.156-173, 2019 (SSCI)
For at least the past 30 years, the Kurdish question has been the most urgent agenda concern for Turkey. Denial of the Kurdish question is a state narrative and an administrative strategy in Turkey that was produced by the founders of the Republic and disseminated by its leadership using the state apparatus. However, we know very little about how denial operates within lay person accounts of the Kurdish question. Learning about the narrative forms that lay people produce in their accounts on the Kurdish question is necessary to understand the micro-level appearance of the question. Denial appears to be a foundational strategy employed by lay Kurds and Turks in different forms, through numerous arguments, and from different motivations, as evidenced in their personal accounts. This study investigates the arguments, forms, and functions of this denial in the personal accounts of lay Turks and Kurds in Turkey.