Historical transformation of citizenship and citizenship in Turkey

This dissertation aims at examining the transformation of the notion of citizenship in the historical process and analysing the citizenship policies of both Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey. Citizenship has been one of the most important notions of political science throughout history, and now it is revealed that various citizenship implementations took place in Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, the Middle Age as well as the modern era. As a result of the reforms made during the last period of the Ottoman Empire, modern citizenship became a part of the Ottoman judicial system. Hence, the Ottoman citizenship should be considered as a milestone in the development of the Ottoman identity. In the Republican period, citizenship had been based on the concept of a common identity and relevant political and cultural values. The notions of duty and responsibility had been more effective than the notions of rights and freedom in the formation of citizenship policies. In the 1980s, new citizenship approaches were being discussed on the global scale. During the 1990s, there was a partial liberalization in the citizenship policies adopted in Turkey. This tendency continued between 2000 and 2002 as a result of developing relations with the European Union.