Citizenship under the Ottomans and Kemalists: How the Kurds were excluded

This article examines the relevancy of concepts of citizenship as tools for analysing and comprehending minorities in ethnically complex societies. Taking the Kurds of Turkey as a case study, this article traces the evolution of civil society from the Ottoman empire through to the modern Turkish state, using a human rights‐based definition of citizenship. The changed situation of the Kurds is shown in each epoch and appropriate conclusions are drawn. The complex diversity among the Kurds themselves is also noted. Finally, an assessment is made of the applicability of what could be called Weberian and Neo‐Weberian concepts of citizenship.