Citizenship and nationhood in Turkey. Who is excluded?

Due to movements of ethno-cultural groups claiming the right to diversity and challenging the traditional understanding of the “culturally homogenous” nation-state in Turkey the relevance of this culturally homogenous nation-state has been put into question since the early 1990s.

What are the different concepts of belonging and approaches to the integration of ethno-cultural groups being debated by politicians and scholars of social sciences in Turkey in order to find answers to these challenges? How does the rapprochement process to the EU influence the current Turkish debate? And to what extent is the recognition of ethno-cultural groups as debated by theoreticians such as Will Kymlicka an appropriate mechanism to achieve “ethno-cultural justice”? Do not the effects of the recognition of ethno-cultural groups as distinct communities potentially promote segregation and decomposition of societies?

By raising and analyzing these issues this presentation seeks to illustrate the topical relevance of the nation-state as a structuring unit in Turkey.