Civic Nationalism and Ethnocultural Justice in Turkey

Are civic states culturally neutral? The Turkish model of civic nationalism is often praised as a success, albeit an authoritarian one, in creating a unitary national culture. In fact, Turkey's national identity has come at a steep cultural cost. Civic institutions have homogenized and folklorized minority cultures. Ethnoreligious conceptions of Turkish identity have underpinned immigration and naturalization, internal movement and resettlement, education, language, and cultural policies. Turkish nationalism has weighed heaviest on Kurds, Islamists, religious minorities, and the left. A state-run "Turkish Reformation" of Islam failed in the 1930s; more recent attempts to nationalize Islam have turned the state into a mouthpiece for mainstream Sunni doctrine. The Turkish case suggests that in states with deep societal divisions, the dream of civic nationalism may be a coerced one.