This chapter analyses the Turkish Republic as an ethnocratic regime, exploring the political and discursive frameworks that have shaped minority policies over the past century. It argues that the boundaries of “Turkishness”—defined by both ethnic and religious criteria—have dictated the state’s selective inclusion and exclusion of non-Muslim and non-Turkish Muslim communities. By examining state policies and societal interactions with these groups, the chapter reveals the dynamics of power and exclusion that underlie Turkey’s nation-building project(s). It also highlights how race, class, and gender intersect with these exclusionary practices. While focused on Turkey, the chapter’s insights are relevant to other nation-states, such as Germany and Israel, where historical and ongoing processes of ethnic and religious exclusion, and a past or present genocide, unsettle the self-narratives of democracy and inclusivity.