TURKISH IDENTITY: IN SEARCH OF A NEW SOCIAL ETHICS.

Ethnicity (or ethnicity-related nationality) and religion (or the mainstream sect of the majority of a given society) constitute the two most important elements in the formation of a nation. However, they are also the two most prominent concepts, among many others, that are most widely open to be abused in identity politics. More specifically, ethnicity and religion might strengthen the momentum of the process of nation formation and they are definitely of great value in keeping a society together. On the other hand, they might easily be abused: they might alienate large segments of a given nation in many ways, e.g., their being emphasized as though they are the two most primary stipulations for an individual to be considered as a member of a nation. It seems that their being given great importance is largely due to the lack of a sense of security on the whole. On the other hand, their being considered as of second importance to, for instance, ethics of principles is mostly dependent on the tragic times in the history of a nation that give rise to paradigm shift in identity perception. In this paper, I will follow and pin down the above-mentioned points focusing on the last 10 to 15 years of the Turkish people living with strong Asian roots in the modern-day Turkey. Also drawing on a personal perspective and experience, I will be aiming to point out that the tragic moments in the history of a given nation are conducive to paradigm shifts in identity perception and that the paradigm shifts taking place in the wake of the tragic moments are extremely sensitive about avoiding the possible abuses of both the mainstream ethnicity and the mainstream religion. Key Words: Turkish Identity, Ethnicity, Religion, Identity Politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]