AZERBAIJANI AND KURDISH ETHNONATIONALISM WITHIN MULTICULTURAL PERSPECTIVE: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF IRAN AND TURKEY

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AZERBAIJANI AND KURDISH ETHNONATIONALISM WITHIN MULTICULTURAL PERSPECTIVE: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF IRAN AND TURKEY

This article touches the relationship between the majority/center and minority/periphery in Iranian nationalism with a focus on the case of Azeri Turks in Iran. I will compare perspectives of multiculturalism in Iran and Turkey via a close reading of Kuzu’s Multiculturalism in Turkey: The Kurds and the State. In doing so I will also study the similarities between Azerbaijani and Kurdish ethnonationalism in Iran and Turkey via engaging in compatibility of the framework drawn by Kuzu to Iran. In his book Kuzu, the UK-based Turkish scholar of politics and multiculturalism, aims to explore the limitations of multicultural theory and practice when extended beyond the context of Western societies, particularly the cases of Belgium and Canada, into contexts such as Turkey. Kuzu does not reject multiculturalism in total, but offers an empirically grounded moderate form of multiculturalism. This model, one can argue, shifts between strong multiculturalism and civic/liberal nationalism, without necessarily being able to solve the possible contradictions between these two approaches. Kuzu’s work is much insightful for evaluating the situation of Azeri Turks and other nonPersian ethnic groups in Iran and their struggle for recognition through the contemporary era. My aim in this article is to pave the way to redefine historically rooted Iranian national identity on the basis of the conditions of ethnic pluralism and diversity in the post-Cold War era, and to propose a moderate solution to accommodate Azerbaijani ethnonationalism.

Keywords: Civic/Liberal Nationalism, Strong Multiculturalism, Ethnonationalism, Azeri Turks, Kurds.

Details

The language of the article English
The type of the article Research paper
The field of the article International Relations and Political Science
Author
Published issue 1. Issue
Page 73-99

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How can this article be cited?

  • Badamchi, M. (2022). Azerbaijani and Kurdish ethnonationalism within multicultural perspective: A comparative study of Iran and Turkey. Türkiye İran Araştırmaları Dergisi, 1(1), 73-99.
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