| Summary: | The purpose of this thesis is to study what has been the biggest obstacle in the development towards autonomy for Kurds in Turkey and to conduct a study based on a theory on territorial autonomy made by Maria Ackrén, entitled "Conditions for Different Autonomy Regimes in the World". The research design is a qualitative case study where Ackrén's theory serves as a framework for the results. Ackrén present eight factors which could explain the establishment and degree of autonomy; degree of democracy, historical strategic importance, geographical distance, possession of natural resources, existence of regional movement or separatist groups, ethnic distinctiveness, size and economic viability. The result and analysis indicate that the main obstacles to Kurdish autonomy are indeed the factors that Ackrén in her study points out as the two necessary factors for territorial autonomy to occur. Territorial autonomies have the greatest chance of emerging in democratic and equal societies where there are favourable economic conditions with high GDP/capita. While one can argue that Turkey's political system has democratic flaws, furthermore, the GDP/capita in Turkish Kurdistan is much lower compared to the national average. This means that the conditions are disadvantageous for the emergence of Kurdish autonomy in Turkey.
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