Pro-Kurdish women politicians in Diyarbakır (Turkey): Negotiating autonomy (not only) towards the state

Abstrakt

Turkey is a centralized nation state with the Kurdish minority that accounts for 10-15% of its population. The denial of the existence of Kurdish inhabitants constituted the official policy until the early 1990s.

Since then, the pro-Kurdish parties are regularly voted into office in the Turkey's south-east region. Currently, the pro-Kurdish politicians are in charge of the biggest municipalities in the area, notably Diyarbakır, Tunceli, Hakkari and Van.

In a centralized state, those municipalities have limited competences. However, they are still crucial local actors in terms of investment opportunities, employment and providing services.

This paper is based upon the fieldwork done in the city of Diyarbakır, focusing on the municipality's strategies to negotiate power and autonomy not only vis-a-vis Ankara, but also vis-a-vis the Kurdish armed movement. It can be considered as an example of redefining Kurdish nationhood within contemporary Turkey.

The pro-Kurdish politicians are struggling to put in place a local government model which is (at least discursively) different from what is being done in the rest of the country. One of the major innovations touches upon the gendered dimension of local politics.

The pro-Kurdish party introduced a system of co-presidency having two mayors, one male and one female, in charge of the city. This system is currently invalidated at the state courts for being unconstitutional and its survival is based on informal legitimacy it is able to mobilize.

The fact that "Turkish" state courts are invalidating "Kurdish" way of governing is a widely spread reading of the situation. Repeated calls for more decentralization are a part of the effort to achieve "self-government" in the region within the Turkish state.

However, this request is not officially justified on the grounds that the Kurdish inhabitants constitute a different, stateless, nation.