MUSLIM MINORITY GROUPS IN TÜRKİYE WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF MULTICULTURALISM: A STUDY ON THE LAZ COMMUNITY

This study analyzes the effects of multiculturalist processes in Türkiye on the Laz who are Muslim ethnic minority. Multiculturalist policies carried out in Turkish Republic have had an impact upon both religious and ethnic minorities to some extent. This issue has been frequently discussed in academic and political circles, especially since the 2000s. This article, prepared to contribute to this field, touches on the difficulties that the Laz people had in preserving their own culture in the past, and also describes the multiculturalist movements that have developed in the last twenty years. On the other hand, it justifies that compared to the other minorties, the Laz have not been able to benefit from multicultural progress sufficiently and puts forward a proposal to be able to enhance this situation. In the frame of the Laz's historical improvement application of minority rights, the effectiveness of these rights starting from Ottoman Empire, establishment of Turkish Republic until today are tried to be examined by comparing to the other minorities. In this sense, the article attempts to provide a theoretical and practical summary of multiculturalism and is both a global and local analysis of the subject.