From the Abode of Islam to the Turkish Vatan: The Making of a National Homeland in Turkey

How does a people move from tribal and religiously based understandings of society to a concept of the modern nation-state? This book examines the complex and pivotal case of Turkey. Tracing the shifting valences of vatan (Arabic for “birthplace” or “homeland”) from the Ottoman period—when it signified a certain territorial integrity and imperial ideology—through its acquisition of religious undertones and its evolution alongside the concept of millet (nation), Behlül Özkan engages readers ...