ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how the multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-religious population of Anatolia came to be transformed, through the Turkish national struggle, to end up in a Turkish nation-state between 1919 and 1923. It is important to focus on this period since it is used in political, intellectual and legal discussions on identity and the management of diversity as a foundational moment to legitimate the present situation in Turkey. The Turkish Republic's first Constitution of 1921 did not contain any provision which regulated the status of non-Muslims. The Lausanne Treaty itself is also crucial for the way in which it formalized the cleavage between Muslims and non-Muslims. The Turkish National Parliament (Turkiye Buyuk Millet Meclisi, TBMM) was opened on 23 April 1920 with the participation of some members of the MM and representatives elected by the local branches of the 'Defence and Rights Resistance Group'. However, unlike the Ottoman parliaments, no non-Muslim deputy was present in the first TBMM.
