Email this article The Ethnic Minority Policy of Turkey
- Authors: Dashyan M.A.1, Kudelin A.A.2
-
Affiliations:
- National Research University - Higher School of Economics
- Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University)
- Issue: Vol 12, No 3 (2020)
- Pages: 274-285
- Section: Modern World
- URL: https://journals.rcsi.science/2312-8127/article/view/317253
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.22363/2312-8127-2020-12-3-274-285
- ID: 317253
Cite item
Full Text
Abstract
This article is an overview of the state stance and attitude towards minorities throughout history of the republic of Turkey. It represents the official approach of the republic towards ethnic and religious groups. Though due to actions of the Ottoman Empire, the number of non-Turks in the republic of Turkey already was incomparably small, however their existence could not be ignored. Still Turkey recognizes only three minorities (Greeks, Armenians, and Jews) and for decades adopted the strategy of regarding all minority persons other than Greeks, Armenians, and Jews as Turks. Ethnic variety was considered a threat to territorial integrity of Turkey. Every action was directed to create a unitary nation-state suppressing ethnic identities of non-Turks. In this article state policy towards ethnic groups in the republic of Turkey is examined from the perspective of the Lausanne Treaty provisions and legislative regulations regarding the status and rights of minorities showing to what extent authorities have followed them and rising the controversial points minority representatives face in exercising their rights.
Keywords
About the authors
Mariam Ashotovna Dashyan
National Research University - Higher School of Economics
Email: dashyan.mariam@gmail.com
master student, Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs 20, Myasnitskaya ulitsa, Moscow, Russia, 101000
Andrey A. Kudelin
Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University)
Email: kudelin_aa@rudn.university
PhD in History, Associate Professor of the Department of the World History of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences 6, Miklukho-Maklaya St., Moscow, 117198, Russia
References
- Wang S., “The People’s Republic of China’s Policy on Minorities and International Approaches to Ethnic Groups: A Comparative Study”, 2004.
- Tasch L., “The EU Enlargement Policy and National Majority-Minority Dynamics in Potential European Union Members: The Example of Turkey”, Mediterranean Quarterly, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 18-46, 2010.
- “Proud to be A Turk”, The Economist, 4 February 2016. [Online]. Available: https://www.economist.com/special-report/2016/02/04/proud-to-be-a-turk. [Accessed 29 March 2020].
- “Constitution of The Republic of Turkey”, [Online]. Available: https://global.tbmm.gov.tr/ docs/constitution_en.pdf. [Accessed 30 March 2020].
- Safrastayan R. et al, Turkiayi harapetutyan patmutyun [History of the Republic of Turkey], Yerevan: Yerevan State University Press, 2014.
- “Lausanne Peace Treaty”, 1923. [Online]. Available: http://www.mfa.gov.tr/lausanne-peace-treaty-part-i_-political-clauses.en.mfa. [Accessed 25 March 2020].
- Weiner M. E. and Ozbudun E., Competitive Election in Developing Countries, Duke University Press, 1987.
- “Regular Report on Turkey’s Progress towards Accession”, 2003. [Online]. Available: https://www.avrupa.info.tr/sites/default/files/2016-11/2003.pdf. [Accessed 20 March 2020].
- Melkonyan R., “On Some Problems of The Armenian National Minority in Turkey”, 21st Century, no. N2 (8), pp. 64-70, 2010.
- Akar R., Aşkale Yolcuları: varlık vergisi ve çalışma kampları (Passengers to Ashkale: The Wealth Tax and Labor Camps), Istanbul: Mephisto Basım, 2006.
- Ağir S. and Artunç C., “The Wealth Tax of 1942 and the Disappearance of Non-Muslim Enterprise in Turkey”, Journal of Economic History, vol. 79, no. 1, pp. 201-243, 2019.
- “Turkey 2019 Report”, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.avrupa.info.tr/sites/ default/files/2019-05/20190529-turkey-report.pdf. [Accessed 30 March 2020].
- Gunter M., “An historical Overviw to the Kurdish Problem”, The Copernicus Journal of Political Studies, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 159-182, 2013.
- “Regular Report from the Commission on Tukey’s Progress towards Accession”, 1998. [Online]. Available: https://www.avrupa.info.tr/sites/default/files/2016-11/1998.pdf. [Accessed 25 March 2020].
- “Turkey Progress Report”, 2014. [Online]. Available: https://ec.europa.eu/ neighbourhood-enlargement/sites/near/files/pdf/key_documents/2014/20141008-turkey-progress-report_en.pdf. [Accessed 27 March 2020].
- “Regular Report on Turkey’s Progress towards Accession”, 2004. [Online]. Available: https://www.avrupa.info.tr/sites/default/files/2016-11/2004.pdf. [Accessed 26 March 2020].
Supplementary files
