The Lausanne conference of 1922-23 and the battle over the conscription of the non-Muslim minorities in Turkey

The article examines why it was important to the modern republican Turkish state, which saw the non-Muslim minorities as a threat to its security and a potential source of fifth column activities, to propose their inclusion in the draft. In order to answer this question, the article explores the iss...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Immigrants & minorities 2024-05, Vol.42 (2), p.190-220
Main Author: Ophir, Assa
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
civil-military relations
Conferences
Decision makers
Minority groups
Muslims
non-Muslim minorities
Ottoman Empire
Recruitment
Religious minorities
the Lausanne conference
Turkey
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Summary:The article examines why it was important to the modern republican Turkish state, which saw the non-Muslim minorities as a threat to its security and a potential source of fifth column activities, to propose their inclusion in the draft. In order to answer this question, the article explores the issue of the recruitment of the non-Muslim minorities as presented in the official protocols and in writings of the senior Turkish decision-makers who attended the Lausanne conference of 1922-23. The main argument of this article is that the introduction of non-Muslim conscription in modern Turkey was less an act of integration and more a contribution to two broader aims: demographic engineering to remove 'suspect' or 'unassimilable' national and religious minorities, and economic Turkification, which aimed to force transfer of property from non-Muslim into Muslim hands.
ISSN:0261-9288
1744-0521
DOI:10.1080/02619288.2024.2369844