Identity policies in The Republican Era (between 1923 – 1938)

The phenomenon of identity is related to the sense of belonging of the individual/society and how he/she positions himself/herself against the "other". It is also known that this phenomenon is closely related to the social, political and cultural change and transformation of the state in which the individual is connected. In this study, the changes in the phenomenon of identity in this historical process, the elements or criteria that determine the identity, and the key role that it plays in the nation/nation-state building process will be examined within the context of newly established nation state of Republic of Turkey. The most fundamental problem in the nationalization and modernization efforts, which started after the declaration of the Republic, has been the formation of a new sense of "us". The fact that the Ottoman ummah identity, which constitutes the "old us", is replaced by a secular, modern national Turkish identity as "new us", has been the main problem of national culture. In this context, when did the Turks first define themselves as "Turk"? Or, more broadly, when did the Turks begin to see their state as the state of Turks rather than the state of Ottomans and Muslims? After the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, identity movements and policies have the historical background in which it should be examined with the new identity of ethnic Turkishness instead the former pluralistic understanding of the cultural identity. This identity, which has been tried to be built since the foundation of the Republic, has brought many problems and tensions. These problems are generally due to the fact that the official policies applied are not compatible with the actual situation. The main part of the study is the in-depth analysis of the official policies applied, the intellectual backgrounds, the problems in implementation and the examination of the theoretical studies to support these policies.