Minority policies in the Early Republican period in turkey: the case of armenian and jewish minorities

This study evaluates how the nation-state model, which emerged in Europe following a historically chaotic period, transformed the understanding of political legitimacy. As legitimacy shifted from divine and transcendental sources to more tangible phenomena such as the nation and the state, this model came to be perceived as a form of salvation for political structures beyond Europe. In this context, a similar process of transformation has been observed in Turkey. The research identifies that, unlike the bottom-up formation of nation-states in Europe, the construction of the nation-state in Turkey followed a top-down dialectic. It is assessed that the founding cadres of the new regime aimed to transform the multicultural legacy of the Ottoman Empire by constructing a homogenizing sense of "us." This process, in turn, has been observed to contribute to the marginalization of various identities, particularly minority groups. In this context, the study examines how Armenian and Jewish communities were positioned in relation to the founding ideology of the Republic. Although these groups were granted minority status under the Treaty of Lausanne, it has been determined that they were unable to establish a shared sense of belonging and instead positioned themselves through distinct historical narratives. The research further emphasizes that education served as a central tool in the construction of the nation-state. It has been observed that the new regime aimed to shape a collective identity through educational institutions and policies, which were structured around specific identity-based codes to promote a particular understanding of citizenship.