Politics of motherhood and the experience of the mothers of peace in Turkey

Abstract

This thesis questions the limits of politics of motherhood in Turkey within the context of the Mothers of Peace. It focuses on the narratives of the women in the Mothers of Peace and the public discourses about motherhood in Turkey questioning the way motherhood became a contested space in the Turkish public sphere. By analyzing the narratives and the public discourses, it argues that appropriating a universal discourse like motherhood itself is not sufficient for gaining popular support for a peaceful solution for the Kurdish issue in Turkey and questions its reasons.By conceptualizing the experience of the Mothers of Peace within the framework of the interface between politics and motherhood, this thesis shows how motherhood becomes a tool of categorizing women -as proper and and nonproper mothers- in the Turkish context rather than a universal bond among women. It is demonstrated that motherhood is identified by the Turkish public with the activity of raising proper Turkish subjects who are willing to sacrifice their lives for the unity of their nation and country. In a context where the Turkish state defines the Kurdish issue as a problem of terrorism and where motherhood is identified with bringing up “proper citizens” for the state, women who do not conform to this definition are excluded from the category of motherhood in Turkey.