Does a state's recognition of a minority language affect the political attitudes of minorities? Despite the significance of the language policy, particularly in countries experiencing ongoing ethnic conflict, the empirical literature regarding its causal effects stays limited. In this study, we explore the impact of minority language recognition on ethnic minority individuals' political attitudes in a country experiencing an ongoing ethnic conflict. We conducted an online survey experiment to analyze this effect, recruiting Kurdish individuals in Turkey through social media advertisements. In the survey experiment, respondents were exposed to introduction of Turkey’s state services either in Kurdish or Turkish language. Our results point to a recognition paradox. We find that while the Kurdish people living in Turkey become more satisfied with state services if these services are provided in the Kurdish language, this satisfaction does not increase trust in state institutions. On the other hand, recognising the minority language further increases language demands among the minority community.