ABSTRACT

This chapter explores that EU conditionality which is conceptualised by the external incentives model and domestic choice for change which is conceptualised by the lesson-drawing model has a sequential impact to the process. It aims to answer how the change in the minority-related policies in Turkey can be explained and under which conditions minority rights measures have been adopted and constrained. The discriminatory character of the Ottoman Millet System has been preserved in Turkey with a denial of the existence of Muslim minorities and a restricted definition of non-Muslim minorities to Armenians, Greeks and Jews. The concept of minority in the country is derived from the 1923 Lausanne Peace Treaty, which is still in force today and cited by many as the official policy in regard to minority rights. As the AKP came to power as a reformist party, its political values in general and in regard to minority issues was radically different than the previous parties.