The citizen of the state and the state of the citizen : an analysis of the citizenization process in Turkey

Abstract

This study deals with the construction and evolution of Turkish citizenship throughout the history of the Turkish Republic. How citizenship was defined, and which model was adopted for Turkish citizenship are the major questions. The state is taken as the major constructive actor as the modernization and citizenization process was from above in the Turkish case. Therefore, the legal documents, parliamentary debates, and studies of the prominent intellectuals on citizenship are analyzed. As the nation building and citizenization process went hand in hand in Turkey, those laws related with the construction of a Turkish national identity are also utilized. By taking the social and political developments into account as a background, the changes and shifts in the understanding of Turkish citizenship are traced. The problems Turkish citizenship encounters today has its roots in the early Republican period, where Turkish citizenship was developed from above and in a republican understanding that emphasized duties towards the state. Today there is a clash between aspirations for a more liberal understanding of citizenship and the republican citizens. In the core of the problems faced today, lies the reluctance of the state to view Turkish citizenship as a notion distinct from the quest for Kemalist modernization and official Turkish national identity.