["Nations and Nationalism, EarlyView. ", "\nAbstract\nThis article explores the reopening of certain shrines in Istanbul in 1950 as a result of the amendment to Law 677, which in 1925 had closed all shrines in the country and banned visits to them. Drawing on previously untapped archival evidence and combining an analysis at both the macro‐level (nation‐state in a global world) and micro‐level (Istanbul as local and shrines as sites), I discuss changes in cultural policies, historiography and Turkish foreign policy and make use of the contributions of ethno‐symbolic and social constructionist approaches of nationalism theories. I contend that during the transition to the multi‐party system, ‘chosen’ shrines were used as tools to reattach Ottoman roots to Turkish national identity as ‘Turks’ and ‘Muslims’ and reposition Turkey as a strong nation‐state in the new global order. Furthermore, I demonstrate how the former multi‐ethnic and multi‐religious capital, Istanbul, became a part of the national territory as a legitimate Turkish and Muslim city.\n"]