Confronting Equality: The need for constitutional protection of minorities on Turkey's path to the European Union

The article analyzes the historical development of Turkey's minority policy, its constitutional scheme, and the substance and implementation of reforms as they relate to the protection of minorities. Focusing on the reforms adopted in 2002 with the explicit purpose of granting linguistic rights to the Kurdish minority and expanding the property rights of non-Muslim minorities, the article argues that the constitutional and legislative reforms and their implementation are far from guaranteeing the constitutional protection of minorities required by the EU and committed to by the Turkish Government. Instead, it claims, they constitute much belated —if still welcome— steps toward granting some fundamental rights to members of some minority groups that leave much more to be done to achieve respect and protection for all minorities