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The article discusses Turkey's political, social, and religious history from the perspective that the country is not a democratic, secular nation-state because Turkish leaders have focused on Muslim supersessionism since the Ottoman Empire era began in 1288. The article notes Muslim supersessionism, a radical form of nationalism based on Islamic hegemony and the idea that all citizens should want to belong to a Turkish "race," was a driving force behind the development of the Young Turks organization and Kemalist political doctrine. Ethnic cleansing, the Armenian genocide, the Greek massacres, and the government's efforts to expel Christians and Jews from Istanbul, Turkey in 1955 are topics in the discussion. Other topics include Cyprus, Islamization, and Turkification.

The article discusses the politics and history of Cyprus, focusing on its division between Turkish Cypriots in the North and Greek Cypriots in the South. It comments on the attempted coup d’état in 1974 that aimed to overthrow the government and annex Cyprus to Greece, and the subsequent invasion by Turkish forces. The author reflects on Cyprus' European Union (EU) membership and Turkey's prospects for EU membership. Other topics include international mediation, the prospect of reunification, and the influence of nationalism.

Most Cypriots before and since independence in 1960 experienced a double patriotism that contributed to the prolongation of the conflict between the two communities in their country. They identified with the island on which they lived as well as with the nation, Greece or Turkey, from which their ancestors had come. These patriotisms changed after the landing of the Turkish troops in 1974 when Cyprus was split into two distinct sections clearly based upon Turkish and Greek ethnicity. An attempt is made here to describe the resulting insecurity that played a significant role in preventing a resolution of the conflict in 1984-1985. For inductive, theoretical reasons a deliberate effort is also made to isolate ensuing "consequences" and hence to salvage old and slightly new generalizations that perhaps transcend this particular conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]