Turkey’s Minority Policy after the Treaty of Lausanne

Abstract

In reference to the Treaty of Lausanne only non-Muslims were recognized as minorities in Turkey. Issues such as the definition of minorities and the rights of the minorities caused long debates during the Lausanne Conference and the Turkish delegation insisted on the determination of minorities only by religious distinction. Although the treaty indicates a general statement that non-Muslims to be considered as minorities, Turkey has narrowed the meaning of this statement and recognized only Greeks, Armenians and Jews as minorities. Non-Muslims other than these three groups are not officially considered to be of minority status. Besides, the privileges of the Greek and Armenian Patriarchs and Rabbinate given by the Ottoman Empire were abolished. Despite the narrowed recognition, the state's approach to minorities was shaped by a general sense of mistrust in the early periods. The main reason for this was the clashes between Muslim and non-Muslim subjects during the armistice. The armistice period continued to be effective in the determination of Turkey's minority policies for a long time.