Confiscation and destruction : the Young Turk seizure of Armenian property

This is the first major study of the mass sequestration of Armenian property by the Young Turk regime during the 1915 Armenian genocide. It details the emergence of Turkish economic nationalism, offers insight into the economic ramifications of the genocidal process, and describes how the plunder was organized on the ground. The interrelated nature of property confiscation initiated by the Young Turk regime and its cooperating local elites offers new insights into the functions and beneficiaries of state-sanctioned robbery. Drawing on secret files and unexamined records, the authors demonstrate that while Armenians suffered systematic plunder and destruction, ordinary Turks were assigned a range of property for their progress. Half-title......Page 2 Title......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Dedication......Page 6 Contents......Page 8 Preface......Page 10 Illustrations......Page 14 Abbreviations......Page 16 1 Introduction and Problematization......Page 18 2 Ideological Foundations: Constructing the Turkish ‘National Economy’......Page 32 3 Legal Foundations: Using the Justice System for Injustice......Page 58 4 The Dispossession of Ottoman Armenians......Page 78 5 Adana: The Cotton Belt......Page 124 6 Diyarbekir: The Land of Copper and Silk......Page 150 7 Conclusion......Page 182 Appendix 1 Partial List of Community Property Lost by the Adana Armenians......Page 190 Appendix 2 List of Turks Owning Abandoned Properties in Adana, 1924......Page 192 Notes......Page 198 Select Bibliography......Page 232 Index......Page 238