ABSTRACT
Founded under the leadership of Atatürk, the new Turkish state aimed at building a new national identity by eradicating religious identities during the transition period from the empire to the nation-state. The project of “creating equal citizens within the framework of secularism” under the new republic, which had been influenced by the principles of the French revolution, never succeeded. This project could never go beyond “defining the nation in terms of religion,” which had been the common denominator for Balkan nationalisms. Therefore, there was no place for the non-Muslims in the new nation-state. The “future Turk” could emerge exclusively on the basis of being a Muslim. The natural consequence of this approach was that Muslims were regarded as “eligible citizens” and non-Muslims as “unwanted citizens.” The new state defined its official minorities in terms of religion and limited them under the label “non-Muslims,” although this contradicted its claim for secularism.
