The quest for identity

This chapter focuses on Turkey's quest for national identity and nationalism. It analyses the connection between Turkish nationalism and Islam, the encounter between Turkey and the Turkic peoples in the Caucasus and Central Asia, and Turkey's conflict with Syria over the latter's support of the Kurdistan Workers' Party. The chapter also highlights the view of the state, and of its Western and secular establishments and elite, that Muslim manifestations are detrimental to the very existence of modern Turkey.