In September 2006, in a political climate in which the Kurdish issue was still discussed with caution, and Kurds were afraid to reveal their ethnic identity, a staff over 1500 people working for KONDA interviewed 48,000 people face-to-face in 79 out of the 81 provinces of Turkey. This unique survey allowed us to collect data not only on basic demographic characteristics, ethnic and religious affiliations, mother tongues, migration histories but also people’s opinions on identity and citizenship and on the source of and possible solutions for the Kurdish issue. In its simplest form, the survey answers the question: “Who Are We?” Since general censuses no longer collect data on ethnic identity, the size and geographic distribution of the Kurdish population was unknown and this survey finally made this information publicly available, possibly even contributing to the today’s more relaxed environment. In that respect, this is KONDA’s most well-known research.
This survey was published as a series in the Milliyet daily in February 2007.