Ethnic Separatism in Russia and Turkey: Theoretical Perspectives on Russia’s Republics, and the Kurdish Issue (1980–2004)

Abstract

Bu makale, 1980 ile 2004 yılları arasındaki dönemde Rusya ve Türkiye’de etnik ayrışmanın evrimini incelemektedir. Sovyet ve Kemalist ulus inşa miraslarından elde edilen karşılaştırmalı içgörülere dayanarak, çalışma; Sovyet Rusya’daki çok uluslu kapsayıcılık ile Türkiye’deki asimilasyonist, Fransız etkisindeki modelin azınlık mobilizasyonunu ve devlet tepkilerini nasıl şekillendirdiğini araştırmaktadır. Tataristan, Çeçenistan ve Kürt hareketi gibi vakalara odaklanarak, analiz; devlet kapasitesi, tarihsel miras ve gelişen ideolojik söylemlerin rolünü vurgulamaktadır. Bulgular, hem çok uluslu hem de asimilasyonist yaklaşımların, azınlık milliyetçiliğini yönetmede kalıcı zorluklar yaratan doğuştan gelen gerilimler içerdiğini ortaya koymakta ve bu modellerin hiçbirinin etnik çatışmalara tam bir çözüm sunmadığını göstermektedir.

Keywords

• Rusya
• Türkiye
• Kürt meselesi
• Etnik ayrılıkçılık
• Etnisite rejimleri
• Karşılaştırmalı siyaset

Ethnic Separatism in Russia and Turkey: Theoretical Perspectives on Russia’s Republics, and the Kurdish Issue (1980–2004)

Abstract

This article examines the evolution of ethnic division in Russia and Türkiye during the period from 1980 to 2004. Drawing on comparative insights derived from the legacies of Soviet and Kemalist nation-building, the study investigates how multinational inclusivity in Soviet Russia and the assimilationist, French-influenced model in Türkiye shaped minority mobilization and state responses. Focusing on cases such as Tatarstan, Chechnya, and the Kurdish movement, the analysis underscores the roles of state capacity, historical legacy, and emerging ideological discourses. The findings reveal that both the multinational and assimilationist approaches involve intrinsic tensions that create enduring challenges in managing minority nationalism. Despite these tensions, the concept of state capacity remains a crucial political notion in explaining the quelling of ethnic separatist demands. Although rising state capacity manifested in various dimensions in both Türkiye and Russia, it has greatly diminished the strength of ethnic separatism in each country. In this context, separatism in Türkiye gradually evolved toward demands for autonomy, whereas in Russia, ethnic republics, linked to Putin’s centralizing policies, lost their asymmetric federal privileges and were integrated into the central authority. Moreover, the period between 1980 and 2004 was chosen not merely as a chronological interval but because it corresponds to a phase during which ethnic separatism experienced both a surge and a subsequent decline in both countries. After 2004, while Türkiye did not witness a linear decline in the spiral of separatism and violence, in Russia, ethnic separatism faded from the agenda following the Beslan massacre due to excessively centralizing and security-focused policies.

Keywords

• Russia
• Turkey
• Kurdish Issue
• Ethnic Separatism
• Ethnicity Regimes
• Comparative politics

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