Turkey

Tenure of Property.

Real property is held in one of four various ways : either mulk, emiriye, vakuf or khaliye. (I) Mulk is the absolute property of its owner, and can be disposed of by him as he wills without restrictions, save those enumerated lower down (General Dispositions) as general for all the four classes. (2) Emiriye is practically "public domains." The state may grant land of this category to private persons on payment by the latter of the value of the proprietary right—the tithes, ground-rent (should there be private buildings upon it), and the land-tax. Emiriye cannot be mortgaged, but can be given as security for debt on condition that it be restored when the debt has been repaid ; no forced sale may take place after the decease of the debtor. Emiriye is not transmissible by will, but may be trans ferred by donation, which returns to the donor should he outlive the beneficiary. Should a proprietor of emiriye plant trees or vines, or erect buildings upon it, with the consent of the state, they are considered as mulk. The emiriye then becomes mulk, with certain restrictions as to transfer dues. A transfer duty of 5% on the estimated value of emiriye is paid on transmission by sale, inheritance or donation, of 2-i% on the amount of the debt in case of mortgage or release from mortgage, and of io% on expenses of registration. A different scale is established for emiriye with moukataa (rent paid for emiriye with mulk prop erty established upon it). (3) Vakuf is "all property dedicated to God, of which the revenue is consecrated to His Poor"; or "prop erty of which the usufruct, such as tithe, taxes and rents, is attributed to a work of charity and of public interest." When once a property has been registered as vakuf it can never be with drawn. There are two classes of vakuf : (a) Land so declared either directly by the sovereign or in virtue of imperial authority under past regimes; (b) lands transformed by their properties from mulk into vakut. The laws and regulations concerning vakuf are too intricate to be described; generally it may be said that they form a great obstruction to dealing with a large proportion of the most valuable property in Turkey, and therefore to the prosperity of the country. The vakufs are administered by a special ministerial department (evkaf nazareti), whose property on behalf of the state, they theoretically are. (4) Khaliye. This property is also styled mevad. It consists of uncultivated or rough lands, such as mountains, stony ground, etc., which are useless without clearance, to which no possession is claimed, and which are at such a distance from the nearest dwelling that the human voice cannot be made to reach them from that dwelling. Any one can obtain a gratuitous permit to clear and cultivate such lands; the laws governing ordinary agricultural lands then apply to them. The permit is withdrawn if the clearance is not effected within three years. If the clearance is effected without the necessary permit, the land is nevertheless graLted on applica tion, and on the payment of the tapu or sum paid by the proprie tor to the state for the value of the land.

Agriculture.

In all only about 2o% of the total area of Turkey is under cultivation. But since 1925 zones of development with Directors of Agriculture have been formed for the further development of the country. Further the Agricultural bank has been established upon a state-controlled footing, in order to facili tate loans to local groups and individuals. Agricultural schools have also been established where free in struction is given. In all some three hun dred thousand refugees from the old prov inces of Turkey in Europe have been set tled and all tithe payments have been abolished. The latter reform was effected in February 1925 and in its place a system of land-taxation fixed which is based rather upon the productive than upon the area of the soil. At the same time a modified form

of land-tax survives in the shape of a 6% per thousand tax on land values based upon the registered value of lands as es tablished in the year 1915.

The most important agricultural product of Turkey is tobacco. The value of the crop exported in 1922-24 exceeded by 2o% all other exports. But in 1926 the quantity exported was below expectation. Tobacco is grown throughout Turkey and varies greatly in quality. The best comes from the Pontic coast near Samsoun and also from Bafra, Sinope and Trebizond. Samsoun tobacco fetches the highest price at 2oo-250 piastres the kilogramme; that from the marmora region the lowest at 7o-95 piastres. Smyrna tobacco is largely bought by Germany. In 1925 the Government trans formed the "Regie des tabacs" into a State Monopoly, and at the same time made a monopoly for cigarette paper. The United States of America are the largest purchasers of Turkish tobacco grown in Turkey. The consumption within Turkey itself is about 10 million kilogrammes.

Cereals are not a very large crop and suffice only to provide three-quarters of the needs of the population. Angora, Sivas, Kastamuni and Konia are the chief corn-producing areas.

Cotton is largely grown in the south of Asia Minor, near Adana, where some million and a quarter acres are under cultivation. Near Smyrna also there is a growing cotton industry, and in 1925 some 40,000 bales were produced, which amount is almost the same as the pre-war output.

Figs as an article of commerce in Turkey come exclusively from the Smyrna region. The average annual output is about 25,000 tons. Nuts are extensively grown in the Pontic districts in the wooded belt. The Trebizond crop in 1925 was some 25,000 tons valued at nearly a million pounds sterling. America is the principal customer and they are bought mainly by chocolate manufacturers. Filberts, walnuts, chestnuts and almonds are the chief nuts exported.

With Italy, Spain and Greece, Turkey is one of the chief ex porters of olive oil. The Brusa region and the Ionian coast are the principal areas of cultivation. Some 40,000 tons of oil were prepared in 1925, but the methods of extraction are still primitive and the war damage in the olive-growing regions was extensive.

Opium poppies are grown in the Smyrna, Malatia and Tokat regions and the average yield is some 3,00o to 5,000 cases, a large decrease on pre-war years. The opium so produced is almost wholly exported for medicinal uses, principally to Holland.

Sugar beet is a wholly new crop for Turkey. A company has been founded with a capital of LT 300,00o and there are factories, constructed during the last three years at Alpulu in eastern Thrace and at Ushak. The former can deal with 15o and the latter with 500 tons of beet a day. The factories and the company involved has special government protection and exemption from taxation. Considerable quantities of sugar are now being refined for local consumption.

The silk industry, being one of those which relied upon the skilled work of Greeks and Armenians, is virtually dying. There are now only 42 factories as compared with the i6o of 1914.

In livestock the country is rich and the pastures are good. In 1926 nearly 13,000,000 sheep, 5,000,000 cattle and 500,000 buffa loes were recorded. The Angora goat which still thrives on the uplands of the plateau is one of the most profitable of all live stock in Turkey. 2,760,502 were recorded in 1926 whereas there were only a million and a half in 1924. The export of mohair derived from their skins is almost exclusively to Great Britain.