In this presentation, I examine the circular interpretations of governance, by taking the case of Caliphate and national sovereignty debates in the 1922-1924 periods in Turkey, in relation to the future of Caliphate. Within that period, the Caliphate and Sultanate were first separated, and then the latter was abolished in November 1922 while the former was retained. Eventually Turkey became a republic in October 1923 while keeping the office of Caliphate for the next five months. However, in March 1924, the Caliphate too was abolished; underlining that the nation’s representation is embodied and embedded in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. During that period, interpretations of the Caliphate’s history varied. It referred to the lapses of diverse types such as the fusion of the Caliphate with dynastic rules (Umayyad, Ottoman examples), the separation of sovereign rule from the Caliphate (Seljuk and Mamluk examples and the Abbasid Caliphs), and the proto-democratic ones (Rashidun Caliphs). In the post-war period, these historical examples were employed during the parliamentary debates and through publications. My paper contextualizes these interpretations within the post-war Wilsonian order, nation-states framework and solidarist worldview of the new leadership in Turkey, highlighting the Ibn Khaldun’s historical cyclicism on some of them.