Distance engineering and epistemic violence: Kurdish marginalization and the colonial logic of academic inclusion in Turkey

This article examines the spatial and epistemic exclusions of Kurdish scholars in Turkish academia, arguing these are produced through ‘distance engineering’ - institutional mechanisms that force marginalized scholars and students to step away from their identities to stay safe within hegemonic norms. Drawing on experience as a Kurdish Alevi woman, alongside media and policy analysis, the article develops a typology of erasure, suppression, and instrumentalization to show how otherness is regulated through discourse, administrative practices, and everyday surveillance. Understanding this as epistemic violence reveals how universities can be part of ongoing colonization. The article calls for justice-oriented, anti-colonial academic practices.