Between 1915 - 1928 derelict goods applications

Armenians cooperated with Russians on the First World War's roughest days for the Ottoman State and rioted by stabbing the Ottoman Army in the back. Therefore, they have been expelled from the place they lived and have been compulsorily migrated to safer lands. During this compulsory migration, which has been occurred for security reasons, Armenians left behind an important part of their movable properties and real estates (land, buildings etc.) although they took some of these properties and estates with them while leaving. The protection, management and liquidation of these assets left behind by the Armenians constituted a significant problem. The government made the first regulation about the assets left behind by the Armenians only three days later than that it made the decision of dispatch and settlement. Many basic principles about the management of the assets left behind by the Armenians were included and some explanations were made in the decision of Meclis-i Vükela dated 30th May 1915. The following other regulations were shaped around the principles which had been mostly outlined in the Meclis-i Vükela Decision. By means of these regulations, special Abandoned Goods Commissions were founded for the assets left behind by the Armenians and all the operations related to the abandoned goods were done by the commissions specialized on this area. Via these regulations it was aimed to end the Armenians' property relations with the places they lived on the one hand, and their potential to riot in the places they lived before were eliminated on the other hand. After the First World War ended, the people who had been subjected to compulsory migration were allowed to come back. The resettlement of the people coming back and giving their assets back put a big strain on governments at that time. During this period, which can be named the Armistice Period, the goods which had belonged to the people who had been subjected to compulsory migration were given back without a legal regulation. A legal basis was built for de facto applications with the Enactment dated 8th January 1920. In this period, most of the abandoned goods were given back to their first owners. The issue of abandoned goods has been a topical issue in the Assembly for a long time when National War of Independence Movement enhanced its efficiency and won its independence. With the regulations which were made in this period, the scope of abandoned goods was enlarged in order to include the Muslims. In addition to this, with the legal regulations made before and after the Treaty of Lausanne the issue of abandoned goods was solved permanently. Key words: Armenians, compulsory migration, abandoned goods, abandoned goods commissions, commissions for the liquidation of abandoned goods, coming back.