"I Learned How to Fight": An Exiled Kurdish Academic's Journey Toward Human Rights Activism

• In Event: A Whole New World: Experiences of Being International at School

Abstract

Nationalism has shaped the Republic of Turkey’s traditions, historical-cultural narratives, and official language; however, its diverse demographic composition posed an existential threat to a homogenized national identity. Kurds were the most affected minority group forced to assimilate into Turkishness. The Turkish government’s aversion toward Kurds has historically led to academic purges and the escape of academics to Western countries. This paper reports on one Kurdish academic’s oral history of making sense of their ethnic identity and how that led to their escape to live in exile in a Western country. The findings unveiled personal dimensions of the Turkish-Kurdish question, the Kurdish struggle to have their cultural and linguistic rights recognized, and the factors contributing to the academic purge and exile.

Author

• Clarisse Halpern, Florida Gulf Coast University
  Presenting Author