LEBANESE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY From Kurdishness to Turkishness: Exploring the HDP’s Multi-Ethnic Identity By Hrag Toros Avdanian A thesis Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in International Affairs School of Arts and Sciences November 2018 © 2018 Hrag Toros Avdanian All Rights Reserved ii iii iv To Nadim Said Khalaf & my father, Toros May your souls rest in peace. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The accomplishment of this thesis is due in great part to my supervisor, Dr. Bassel F. Salloukh. I am forever grateful for the guidance, knowledge and skills that he has bestowed upon me. I am indeed humbled to have had the opportunity to work with him. I thank Dr. Jennifer Skulte-Ouaiss and Dr. Selim Deringil for accepting to be part of my thesis defense jury. They are two great instructors that have shaped my academic journey at LAU. I am honored to be the recipient of LAU’s Nadim Said Khalaf Scholarship for my MA degree. I thank the Khalaf family for their generosity and support of young Lebanese scholars. A special thank you to Lana Abu Teen and the entire LAU Development Office for managing the scholarship and checking up on me throughout this ride. To all my friends that had to bear with me as I cancel outings, gatherings, and even a flight to Armenia to write this thesis, I am sorry. Those days are over now. My family has stood by me through all the ups and downs of my life. They were a constant force of support and positive energy that enabled me to finish this long journey. I am blessed for having a loving family like them. Zabel, Avo, and Rita mean the world to me. A final word of gratitude goes to my father, Toros, who sadly passed away a few weeks before I finished writing this thesis. I owe to him all that I am today. I am honored to dedicate this thesis to his beautiful soul. vi From Kurdishness To Turkishness: Exploring the HDP’s Multi-Ethnic Identity Hrag Toros Avdanian ABSTRACT This thesis aims to contribute to the literature on ethnic identity. Despite many attempts by Turkey’s ruling party and most local and international media outlets to confine the newly established Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) to its alleged Kurdish identity, the party views itself as one for all of Turkey’s peoples and ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities. Utilizing Kanchan Chandra’s Constructivist Dataset for Ethnicities and Institutions (CDEI) and its relevant indicators for an ethnic party, this thesis analyzes the HDP’s identity and demonstrates that the party chose to express a multi-ethnic, ‘activated’ identity, rather than limit itself to its ‘nominal’ identity and predominantly Kurdish base. It does so by exploring the HDP’s multi-ethnic identity in the party’s choice of name, party program, explicit appeals and issue positions, ethnic composition of its leadership and candidates, ability to contest elections nationwide, and the discourse used in the party’s parliamentary and presidential electoral campaigns, slogans, songs, and speeches (2015-2018). The thesis concludes that identities are malleable social constructs, and that political parties, like individuals, can shape and reshape their identity. Keywords: Turkey, Kurds, Minorities, Elections, Ethnic Identity, Constructivism, Multi-Ethic Party, HDP, AKP vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I- Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 The Ethnic Makeup of Ottoman Turkey .................................................................... 2 1.3 A Single vs. Multi-Party System ................................................................................ 3 1.4 The Kurdish Issue ....................................................................................................... 5 1.5 Kurdish Political Parties ............................................................................................. 6 1.6 Research Question ...................................................................................................... 9 1.7 Methodology ............................................................................................................. 10 1.8 Map of the Thesis ..................................................................................................... 13 II- Explaining Ethnic Identities: The Established Theories ..................................... 15 2.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 15 2.2 Literature Review ..................................................................................................... 15 2.2.1 Primordialism ................................................................................................................. 16 2.2.2 Instrumentalism .............................................................................................................. 17 2.2.3 Constructivism ............................................................................................................... 21 2.3 Measuring Ethnicity ................................................................................................. 27 2.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 31 III- Exploring the HDP’s Multi-Ethnicity .................................................................. 32 3.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 32 3.2 The HDP at a Glance ................................................................................................ 32 3.3 Paving the Way for the HDP .................................................................................... 33 3.3.1 The Rise of the AKP - 2002 ........................................................................................... 33 3.3.2 The Assassination of Hrant Dink – 2007 ....................................................................... 34 3.3.3 The Establishment of the Peoples’ Democratic Congress – 2011 ................................. 35 3.3.4 The Peace Process – 2012 .............................................................................................. 36 3.3.5 Gezi Park Protests – 2013 .............................................................................................. 36 3.3.6 The Turkish Presidential Elections – 2014 .................................................................... 37 3.4 The HDP’s Acclaimed Identity ................................................................................ 38 3.5 Testing the HDP’s Multi-Ethnicity .......................................................................... 39 3.5.1 Indicator #1 - Choice of Name ....................................................................................... 40 3.5.2 Indicator #2 - Explicit Appeals: ..................................................................................... 42 3.5.3 Indicator #3 - Explicit Issue Positions: .......................................................................... 44 3.5.4 Indicator #4 - Leadership Ethnic Composition .............................................................. 50 viii 3.5.5 Indicator # 5 - Ethnic Arena of Contestation: ................................................................ 56 3.5.6 Indicator #6 - Implicit Activation of Ethnic Identities ................................................... 60 3.5.7 Indicator #7 - How Ethnic Groups Cast their Vote: ....................................................... 62 3.5.8 Indicator #8 - Ethnic Division of the Votes a Party Receives ........................................ 67 3.6 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 67 IV- The HDP in Action: Election Campaigns and Results ....................................... 70 4.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 70 4.2 The June 2015 General Elections ............................................................................. 71 4.2.1 Election Background and Environment ......................................................................... 71 4.2.2 Slogans ........................................................................................................................... 74 4.2.3 Songs .............................................................................................................................. 75 4.2.4 Speeches ......................................................................................................................... 78 4.2.5 Election Results ............................................................................................................. 79 4.3 The War Between Elections ..................................................................................... 81 4.4 The November 2015 General Elections ................................................................... 83 4.4.1 Election Background and Environment ......................................................................... 83 4.4.2 Slogan ............................................................................................................................ 84 4.4.3 Song ..............................................................................................................................