Public Theologies of Human Rights and Citizenship: The Case of Turkey's Christians

Human rights violations against religious or ethnic minorities cannot be treated independently of the state-society relations in respective countries. With a focus on the Christian citizens of the Turkish Republic, this article investigates the limits posed by theological underpinnings of citizenship to the rights and freedoms of religious minorities. This study approaches human rights issues and citizenship using the public theologies concept, which accounts for the temporal, spatial, substantive and spiritual aspects of the contemporary tension between rights and duties. The main argument is that unless the entire concept of citizenship is democratized in Turkey or in any other context, improvements in the rights of minority populations cannot last long.