ABSTRACT
Defying the usual characterization of Turkish politics as polarized between Islamists and Kemalist laicists – the former represented in parliament by the AKP (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi – Justice and Development Party), in government since its comfortable victory in the 2002 legislative elections, and the latter by the CHP (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi – Republican People’s Party) – in June 2003 a consensual parliamentary vote passed a law amending the 1964 Turkish Citizenship Act (no. 403/1964). The new law (no. 4866/2003) included some minor changes concerning the loss of, and reintegration into, Turkish citizenship. However, its major component was article 5, which codified the rules governing access to Turkish citizenship for an alien spouse married to a Turkish citizen. Notwithstanding its application to all international marriages, regardless of residence (and there are a sizeable number of citizens of Turkey residing abroad), the need to reform article 5 was presented as an immigration issue.
