The Fate of Armenian and Greek Properties in the Post-First World War Period

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article examines the practices of the new parliament formed in Ankara and the fledgling republican regime with a particular focus on laws and regulations as of 1922. It discloses how these ‘legal’ mechanisms were employed to thwart Armenians and Greeks to return home and claim their properties back. Finally, this article explores what types of ‘precautions’ the new Turkish nation-state took to not give confiscated properties to Ottoman Christians, particularly before the forthcoming Lausanne peace negotiations. Turkey could not even tolerate the existence of Armenians and Greeks inside the country, let alone give back their expropriated assets. The state considered abandoned properties as an important source of revenue. However, there was an obligation to return these properties to their owners according to the Vahdettin Regulation of January 1920, which was still valid. Consequently, it was necessary to abrogate this regulation before the commencement of the Lausanne negotiations.