ABSTRACT
This chapter serves as an introduction to the empirical puzzle and discusses the significance of the broader research question with regard to the state-minority relations that the book seeks to shed light on. Historical and recent challenges of many states with minorities, refugees, and immigrants in terms of searching for an appropriate “nationhood” or “national identity” are introduced in order to highlight the significance of the book’s main research puzzle. Moreover, the chapter briefly discusses the methodological dimension of the research along with the case selection of the Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey. Central arguments of the book along with a discussion of how they conform to and diverge from some of the main arguments of the state-minority relations and nation-building literatures constitute the second part of this chapter.
