Anthropological and demographic dimensions of the Kurdish question: Findings from census and survey data

Abstract

Within this study, demographic and anthropological differences between the Kurdish group and the rest of the Turkish population are presented while existing approaches on the Kurdish question based on economic and political factors are critically evaluated. Using results of the 1945 Census an inventory of all language groups in Turkey is given together with their respective ‘literacy rates’ and ‘prevalence of knowledge of Turkish’, which reveal temporal differences in terms of entrance into the demographic transition and give hints as to why some ethnic groups have adopted the Turkish identity while some other groups have remained outside the ‘Turkish core’. Recent data from the TDHS, on the other hand, is used to analyze ‘fertility’ and ‘prevalence of consanguineous marriages’ among the Kurdish population. While Kurds who use Turkish as either main or second language converge to the rest of the population in terms of both fertility decline and the matrilateral swing among consanguineous marriages, among Kurds who do not speak Turkish at all the mentioned rates increase in the opposite direction. The Turkish and Kurdish family structures are evaluated within the framework of Emmanuel Todd’s family types with special consideration on the effects of consanguineous marriages and the patrilateral inclination among these on the status of women.