"Happy is he who calls himself a Turk!" That breezy slogan, emblazoned on mountainsides and offices from the Aegean to the Euphrates, was devised by Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, as he set about forging a fresh identity for his people. The idea was that former subjects of the Ottoman empire-whose native language might be Arabic, Albanian or Kurdish-would find a new togetherness as citizens of a unitary republic. And in case people hesitated to embrace the joys of Turkishness, there were harsh penalties for those who asserted any other sort of identity. For most of the past 80 years, these principles have been sacrosanct. But if Turkey is to have any hope of joining the European Union, some taboo topics of history, identity and language must be discussed openly, without fear of prosecution. In a burst of zeal three years ago, the government-led by former Islamists-set up a panel to take a broad look at questions of human rights and identity, and to suggest how things could be improved. But Turkey's masters got more than they expected. The board's report, released this month, said things that were almost unsayable, triggering a sharp backlash.
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