This chapter traces the origins of the Kurdish question back to its roots in the Ottoman Empire. It examines how the Kurdish question emerged, how to characterise the nature of the confrontation and the basis of different perspectives on the issue, how it evolved under the Turkish republic up until the present day, and the future prospects for the Kurdish question in Turkey. It makes two modest but important points: (1) the Kurdish question needs to be placed in its historical context for any adequate understanding; and, (2) at its core is a political contestation whose form and shape is defined by the political response of the state as well as its own internal political dynamics.