LAUSR

ABSTRACT The policies of the Turkish Justice and Development Party (AKP) towards religious minorities exhibits a fundamental ambiguity. Though the AKP has supported a number of high-profile changes in policy towards Armenians and other non-Muslim minorities, the party has left the underlying legal structure intact. This article describes developments in the treatment of non-Muslim vakıfs (often translated at ‘religious foundations’) under the AKP, specifically the restoration of the Holy Cross Armenian Cathedral on the island of Akdamar and the reopening of the Surp Giragos Armenian Church in Diyarbakır. Using these examples, the article demonstrates how the tension between changing policy and enduring legal structure points to an ‘ambiguous attitude’ on the part of the AKP towards Turkey’s religious minority populations.