Citizenship in Turkish Law in the light of constitutional developments

Citizenship which is one of the basic subjects of Constitutional Law, is defined similarly in all Turkish Constitutions. The definition of a citizen as ?Turk? doesn?t include a religious or an ethnic discriminative aspect. Moreover, this definition never refers to an ethnic meaning. Citizenship is defined legally in other words objectively. The problems about citizenship come out in the practice of Turkey?s conditions don?t result from the definition of citizenship in Turkish Constitutions.Citizenship is defined by the state itself according to its objectives, historical roots and cultural, social geography. The citizenship as a concept to be formulated and defined in terms of constitutional terminology in Turkish Constitutions isn?t always discussed in a frame of legal objectives and methodology. For the purpose of discussing the concept of nation state, the definitions of citizenship in Constitutions could be discussed. The construction period of a nation state is experienced through similar practices in every state. This period should not be considered ?againt law?, this period is ?outside the scope of law?. In other words, the problems appearing during this process cannot be always evaluated in terms of law.Keywords: Constitutional Law, Constitution, Citizen, Citizenship, Nation state