Kurdská menšina v Turecku: Problémy a perspektivy

The treatment of minorities by different states gains scholarly attention in the recent years. This thesis attempts to define the necessary criteria for a state to have in order for its treatment of minorities to be acceptable by the international society. There are three major parts of the thesis. It starts with a thorough investigation of legal dimension of minority rights. The thesis formulates the criteria that a state should meet in the field of national and international law regarding minority rights. The second part investigates the political dimension of the issue. The analysis of political dimension describes the interaction of governments with minorities and the factors influencing the success of minorities in achieving their demands. In the final part of the thesis, the criteria formulated in legal and political dimensions are applied to the case of the Kurdish minority in Turkey. The position of Kurdish minority in the society is unique because of the Turkish state's assimilationist policies towards ethnic minorities till very recent years. The minority rights defined by international society were, therefore, not recognized in Turkey. However, the situation has recently changed. The current government ruled by Justice and Development Party has applied numerous democratization reforms that normalize the position of minorities. The Kurdish minority is not discriminated against as much as it was in the past. In addition to the analysis of the current state of minority rights in Turkey, the thesis proposes opportunities for improvement in the future.