Place of Islam in Turkish Nationalism

In his book, Islam, Secularism and Nationalism in Modern Turkey: Who is a Turk?, Soner Cagaptay unpacks the role of Islam in Turkish nationalism. He argues that there were three overlapping categories of Turkishness. The first category and the most inclusive one is based on territory. Anybody living in Turkey is Turkish as given in 1924 Constitution. The second category is based on religion and it can be traced back to Ottoman millet system as articulated in the 1930s textbooks and ruling party (CHP) documents. The third and the most exclusive category was based on ethnicity or a combination of religion and ethnicity.

Cagaptay also explain these categories as three concentric circles.

The above circles, however, hide many complexities. While Islam was an important marker of Turkish nationalism, it was a highly controlled Islam. Turkish government privileged only nominal Islam over other religions. Similarly, while Turkish ethnicity was prized, Turkish language was also important and non-Turks were told to learn Turkish language, if they want to be part of the inner-most circle. So, the inner-most circle can also be described as ethno-linguistic. 

All non-Muslims living in Turkey were also not equal. All kinds of Christians were considered beyond assimilation so they were in the exterior part of the outer-most circle. Armenians were considered the most anti-state so they maybe considered at the edge of outer-most circle. Jews were, however, considered loyal and not beyond assimilation. They were asked to learn Turkish (and adopt Turkish names) so that they can join the inner circles. There were also differences between non-Muslim Turks. Arabs, because of their 'treachery' during World War I, and Kurds, because they resisted assimilation, were ranked lower in termed of Turkishness as compared to Bosnians, Albanians. Bulgar Muslims, Tartars etc.  

The probable vision of future in the minds of Kemalists might be