Policy towards Minorities in the Early Turkish Republic (1920s and 1930s)

Abstract

This article highlights the politics of the early Turkish governments towards various ethnic, linguistic and religious minorities living on the territory of the Republic of Turkey in the light of the principle of nationalism, which became one of the fundamental principles of the new Turkish state. Based on the achievements of modern historiography and the archive documents in the records of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Religions kept at the Central State Archives – Sofia, it makes a review of the typical practices aimed at assimilation of the Muslim linguistic, ethnic and denominational minorities, on one hand, and, on the other hand, at the exclusion of non-Muslims from the concept of the “Turkish nation” and the adoption of discriminatory, and even repressive practices, encouraging their emigration from the Republic of Turkey.