Alien Citizens: The State and Religious Minorities in Turkey and France

How does international context influence state policies toward religious minorities? Using parliamentary proceedings, court decisions, newspaper archives, and interviews, this book is the first systematic study that employs international context in the study of state policies toward religion, and that compares Turkey and France with regard to religious minorities. Comparing state policies toward Christians in Turkey and toward Muslims in France, this book argues that policy change toward minorities becomes possible when strong domestic actors find a suitable international context that can help them execute their policy agendas. Turkish Islamists used the context of Turkey’s bid to join the European Union to transform Turkish politics in the 2000s, initiating a reformist moment in state treatment of Christians. The far right in France utilized the rise of Islamophobia in Europe to adopt restrictive policies toward Muslims. Ramazan Kılınç argues that the presence of an international context that can favor particular groups over others shifts the domestic balance of power, and makes some policies more likely to be implemented than others.