This paper is an attempt to retell the history of nationalism in Turkey through the perspective of Oriental tobacco. In other words, the debates that took place around Oriental tobacco from the late nineteenth century up until 1960 will be used to reflect the emergence and rise of nationalism in Turkey. Making Oriental tobacco the central character in analyzing the Turkish nationalism in the late Ottoman Empire and then early Republic might be seen as an eccentric and pointless attempt given the rich literature on this subject. However, by situating a non-human actor at the center of the argument, this paper radically diverges from this literature. It explores understudied themes and events in the construction of Turkish nationalism with a focus on the controversies surrounding Oriental tobacco. The relationship of the Turkish state with Germans, Americans, the Soviets, as well as the minorities living in Turkey is analyzed through the world of Oriental tobacco. The paper explores how an idea of a uniform and homogenous nation-state with its "standardized" citizens was constituted through an historical analysis of Oriental tobacco production and trade in Turkey. This paper grows out of my archival research in Istanbul Beyazet Library as well as the library at the Tobacco Experts Association in Izmir. The tobacco journals I researched are Tark T?trn (1938-1952), T-t9n D,nyast (1959-1963), T1t5n MecmuasT (1938), Tmrk T?t(nleri MecmuasT (1928), Inhisarlar (1937-1938).