The Many Sides of Said Nursi: An Exploration of Turkey's Kurdish Question Through Contrasting Interpretations of Islamic Texts

This dissertation investigates “how is a political response to the Kurdish Question (KQ) justified and moulded through different interpretations of key religious sources in Turkey?”. It takes into consideration the interaction of ethnic and national belonging with Islam in analyzing and comprehending the religious communities' (jamaats)’ perspectives on the KQ. Therefore, taking Bediuzzaman’s (the founder of the Nur Movement) words as the key religious source, this dissertation compares the perspectives of the mostly - Kurdish Nûbihar Circle and the mainly - Turkish Hizmet Movement, which benefit from the same religious sources, on the Kurdish Question. This study also questions the applicability of one of Brubaker’s approaches, which argues that “claims made in the name of religion, political representation, economic sources, symbolic recognition or cultural reproduction can be thought alongside claims made in the name of ethnicity, race or nationhood”, to this dissertation. The research uses primary and secondary data analysis methodology and gets primary sources by conducting elite interviews with the active members of the jamaats. The dissertation's central argument is that while legitimizing their thoughts about the KQ, both jamaats interpreted the religious sources so that they could keep their ethnic demands and achievements in line with their nationalist goals. As both jamaats framed their nationalism within a religious context, they present their perspectives on the KQ from an ethnic and Islamic-centric standpoint. Ultimately, this study faces many sides of Bediuzzaman, which reveals the role of religion in national life in Turkey from the perspective of jamaats and their fear of not being harmed by the Turkish state due to their political views.