The Politics of Abandoned Property and the Population Exchange in Turkey, 1921-1945

389 Pages·2017·5.16 MB·English

by  Ellinor Morack

9
Bamberger
Orientstudien
The Dowry of the State?
The Politics of Abandoned Property and
the Population Exchange in Turkey, 1921-1945
Ellinor Morack

Izmir and the population exchange:
The politics of abandoned property and
refugee compensation, 1922 - 1930

Zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades eingereicht
am Fachbereich Geschichts- und Kulturwissenschaften
der Freien Universität Berlin
im Jahr 2013

vorgelegt von Sara Ellinor Morack

1. Gutachterin: Prof. Dr. Ulrike Freitag
2. Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Christoph Herzog

Tag der Disputation: 1. November 2013
9Bamberger Orientstudien
Bamberger Orientstudien
hg. von Lale Behzadi, Patrick Franke, Geoffrey Haig,
Christoph Herzog, Birgitt Hoffmann, Lorenz Korn
und Susanne Talabardon
Band 9
2017
The Dowry of the State?
The Politics of Abandoned Property and
the Population Exchange in Turkey, 1921-1945
Ellinor Morack
2017
Bibliographische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen
Nationalbibliographie; detaillierte bibliographische Informationen sind im
Internet über http://dnb.d-nb.de/ abrufbar.
Diese Arbeit hat der Fakultät Geschichts- und Kulturwissenschaften
der Freien Universität Berlin als Dissertation vorgelegen.
1. Gutachterin: Prof. Dr. Ulrike Freitag
2. Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Christoph Herzog
Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 01.11.2013
Dieses Werk ist als freie Onlineversion über den Hochschulschriften-Server
(OPUS; http://www.opus-bayern.de/uni-bamberg/) der Universitätsbiblio-
thek Bamberg erreichbar. Kopien und Ausdrucke dürfen nur zum privaten
und sonstigen eigenen Gebrauch angefertigt werden.
Herstellung und Druck: Digital Print Group, Nürnberg
Umschlaggestaltung: University of Bamberg Press, Anna Hitthaler
Umschlagbild: “Turks of Manisa” von Frédéric Gadmer, Musée départemen-
tal Albert-Kahn
© University of Bamberg Press Bamberg, 2017
http://www.uni-bamberg.de/ubp/
ISSN: 2193-3723
ISBN: 978-3-86309-463-8 (Druckausgabe)
eISBN: 978-3-86309-464-5 (Online-Ausgabe)
URN: urn:nbn:de:bvb:473-opus4-485106
Contents
Note on transcription and names .............................................................. ix
Acknowledgments........................................................................................ x
Introduction ................................................................................................. 1
State of the art ..................................................................................... 8
Theoretical approach......................................................................... 23
Sources .............................................................................................. 33
1 Forced migration, settlement, and the emergence of “abandoned
property” in Ottoman times ...................................................................... 41
1.1 Property and forced migration ............................................ 42
1.2 Migration and refugee settlement in the 19th century ...... 55
1.3 Migrations from the North Caucasus................................. 58
1.4 The Balkan Wars ................................................................. 67
1.5 The expulsions of 1913–14 .................................................. 74
1.6 The Armenian Genocide and abandoned property ........... 83
1.7 The regulation for Greek property .................................... 104
1.8 Custodian accounts ........................................................... 109
1.9 The deportees’ return: 1918–20 ........................................ 112
1.10 Conclusion: From empty land to “national” property ..... 118
2 Making sense of ethnic cleansing and genocide: Parliamentary
debates concerning “abandoned property”, 1921–22 ............................. 123
2.1 Historical background: The War of Independence ......... 124
2.2 Abandoned property in parliament .................................. 139
2.3 The legal background ........................................................ 145
2.4 The first draft: Who were “the disappeared”? .................. 147
2.5 The question of proxies ..................................................... 154
2.6 The question of legality ..................................................... 161
2.7 “Fugitive”, “Disappeared” or “Deported”? ....................... 169
2.8 The state as universal custodian? ..................................... 173
2.9 Conclusion ......................................................................... 177
v
3 Self-help, corruption, or theft? Debating practices of property
appropriation in İzmir and western Anatolia, 1922–24 ........................ 181
3.1 İzmir, September 1922: destruction, death and exile ...... 181
3.2 The fate of “abandoned property” in Smyrna/İzmir ....... 188
3.3 İzmir’s looted wealth in parliament .................................. 195
3.4 Who took part in the looting? ............................................ 201
3.5 The identity of squatters .................................................... 204
3.6 Conclusion ......................................................................... 208
4 International agreements, national legislation, and the
implemention in Turkey, 1923–45 ......................................................... 211
4.1 Negotiations in Lausanne .................................................. 211
4.2 The Mixed Commission and follow-up negotiations ....... 219
4.3 Preparations in Turkey, 1923-1924 ................................... 224
4.4 Squatting and resistance to exchangee settlement .......... 231
4.5 Transport and settlement .................................................. 238
4.6 Laws for property compensation: 1924 – 45 ..................... 239
5 The politics of property compensation in İzmir: 1924–34 ............ 249
5.1 Property allocation (tefviz) from 1924 onwards ............... 252
5.2 Contested categories .......................................................... 255
5.3 The importance of class ..................................................... 267
5.4 Allegations of corruption and fraud .................................. 273
5.5 Voluntary and involuntary cohabitation ........................... 274
5.6 Squatting ............................................................................ 280
5.7 Citizens as customers? The “temlik” law of 1928 ............ 287
5.8 The issue of debt, old and new .......................................... 302
5.9 The official end of the compensation process .................. 311
5.10 Compensation for non-exchangees ................................... 312
5.11 Compensation policies for “non-exchangees” .................. 316
6 Conclusion ....................................................................................... 323
6.1 The emergence of “abandoned property” ......................... 325
vi
6.2 (Absent) Christian property owners, Muslims, and the
nation state ...................................................................................... 327
6.3 The impact of the 1923 exchange convention .................. 332
6.4 Nation, state and people .................................................... 335
6.5 Abandoned property as a commodity ............................... 340
6.6 Prospects for future research ............................................ 342
Bibliography ............................................................................................. 344
Index ......................................................................................................... 367
vii