The so called Tehcir[*] Law (from tehcir, a word of Arabic origin in Ottoman Turkish and meaning "displacement," as defined by the Turkish Language Institute), or, officially, the "Sevk ve İskân Kanunu" (Dispatchment and Settlement Law)) was a temporary law passed by the Ottoman Parliament on May 27, 1915 authorizing the deportation of the Ottoman Empire's Armenian population. The resettlement campaign resulted in the deaths of anywhere between 600,000 to over 1,800,000 civilians, and is commonly referred to as the Armenian Genocide. The bill was officially enacted on June 1, 1915 and expired on February 8, 1916.
[*] The (recently minted) word "tehcir" is nowhere to be seen. Instead "tedabir/measures" and "sevk ve iskân/transport and settle". In the text of the law, there is no explicit mention that Armenians were the main target. The Arabic originated word "tehcir" means "emigration / immigration", it definitely does not mean "deportation" or "exile". Hence the law commonly known as the "Tehcir Law" is the same as "Temporary Law On The Military Measures To Be Taken For Those Who Resist The Governmental Acts And Supplementation's." The word used to explain the implementation in line with this law is "tenkil" in the Ottoman language and means "transport- not the equivalent of "deportation", "exile" or "proscription" in Latin originated languages.
Tehcir Kanunu olarak bilinen; fakat geçici kanun mahiyetinde olan ve asıl adı "Savaş zamanında hükümet uygulamalarına karşı gelenler için asker tarafından uygulanacak önlemler hakkında geçici kanun" Rumî takvime göre 14 Mayıs Miladi takvime göre 27 Mayıs 1915 tarihinde kabul edilmiştir. Kanun, 1 Haziran 1915 günü dönemin resmî gazetesi Takvim-i Vekayi'de yayınlanarak yürürlüğe girmiştir.
Mavi Boncuk |
Takvim-i Vekayi | 1 Haziran 1915
Vakt-i seferde icraat-i hükûmete karşı gelenler içün cihet-i askeriyece ittihaz olunacak tedabir hakkında kanun-i muvakkat.
Madde 1 Vakt-i seferde ordu ve kolordu ve fırka kumandanları ve bunlarin vekilleri ve müstakil mevki kumandanlari ahâli tarafından herhangi bir suretle evamir-i hükûmete ve müdafaa-i memlekete ve muhafaza-i asayişe müteallik icraat ve tertibata karşı muhalefet ve silâhla tecavüz mukavemet görürlerse, derakap kuvve-i askeriye ile en şiddetli surette te'dibat yapmağa ve tecavüz ve mukavemeti esasından imha etmeye mezun ve mecburdurlar.
Madde 2 Ordu ve müstakil kolordu ve fırka kumandanları, icabat-i askeriyeye mebnî veya casusluk ve hıyanetlerini hissettikleri kurâ ve kasabat ahâlisini münferiden veya müctemi'an diğer mahallere sevk ve iskân ettirebilirler.
Madde 3İş bu kanun tarih-i nesrinden mu'teberdir.
Madde 4İş bu kanunun mer'iyyet-i ahkâmina başkumandan vekili ve harbiye nazırı memurdur. Meclis-i umumînin içtima'ında kanuniyeti teklif olunmak üzere iş bu lâyiha-i kanuniyenin muvakkaten mevki'-i mer'iyyete vaz'ini ve kavanin-i devlete ilâvesini irade eyledim.
13 Receb 1333, 14 Mayıs 1915
Mehmed Reşad
Sadrazam Başkumandan Vekili ve Harbiye Nazırı Mehmed Said Enver
Ottoman Migration and Resettlement center - Documents from Ottoman archives Image 32.766 remained in location | 422.758 resettled.
The bill was officially enacted on June 1, 1915 and expired on February 8, 1916.
In the letter sent by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Mustafa Pasha, to the Prime Ministry on January 1919, it is indicated that orders have been given to the related places for the transportation of the Armenians, who wanted to return to their former locations and that the necessary precautions have been taken. (6) The decree of return prepared by the government, dated December 31, 1918 is as follows:
1- Only the ones, who want to return, will be migrated, except those people, no one else will be touched
2- The precautions necessary will be taken for assuring a good journey, and for preventing housing and catering shortage in the returning locations; the migration and returning transactions will be started after contact is established with the administrators of the regions they will return to and after the necessary precautions are taken.
3- The abandoned houses and lands will be returned to the owners.
4- The houses of the ones, where formerly immigrants have been placed, will be evacuated.
5- A few families may be settled in the same location temporally in order to provide sufficient housing.
6- Buildings such as churches, schools and the income generating locations will be returned to the society they belong to.
7- If requested, the orphans will be returned to their guardians, who will be carefully determined, or to their societies, after their identifications are carefully determined.
8- The ones, who have converted their religions, will be able to return to their former religion if they want to.
9- Among the Armenian women, who have married to Muslims and converted their religions will be free to return to their former religion. In this case their marriage act will be automatically canceled. The problems relating to the ones, who do not want to return to their former religion and not wish to divorce from their husbands will be dissolved by the courts.
10- The Armenian properties, which are not in anyone's ownership, will be returned to their first owners and the return of those that have become the property of treasury will be decided with the approval of the property officers. Further explanatory minutes will be prepared about this issue.
11- The property sold to the Muslim immigrants will be delivered to their first owners gradually as their owners return. Article 4 will be definitely applied.
12- If the Muslim immigrants have made repairs and additions in the houses and stores that will be returned to their former owners, or if they have planted the lands and olive groves, the rights of both sides will be observed.
13- The immigration and expenses of the Armenians in need will be met from the Military College Allowance.
14- The amount of transportation made until the current time and the amount of transportation made and the target location of such transportation will be notified on the fifteenth and last days of each month.
15- The Armenians, who have left the Ottoman borders and who want to return, will not be accepted until a new order is issued. ...
