The “Village” Question in the Early Republican Period (1923-1930) in Turkey

The first progressive step of villages in Turkey was the Village Law No. 442, which adopted in 1924. In the framework of this law, it can be asserted that considering the democratic administrative mechanism jointly with common decision process has made significant acquisitions for village administration. However, the new regime struggled to create a legal frame, but also battled to improve important economics and administrative instruments for village population who had been destroyed and exhausted during the war. The main aim of the government was leaving the land formation that remained from Ottoman period, mitigation the obligations of villagers and re-build of villages. This study points the main dynamics of the relationship between state and land form in the early Republican period. The villages were considered to base as the smallest unit of local government for the state organization upon territorial lands by the government. There were three priority pillars of the government‟s approach on village issue: to resolve the exploitation ties on village economy, nation state-villager integration and to establish its own autonomy. In this context, this study seeks to examine the villages in terms of motivations and instruments of the new regime in the early republican period. In addition to literature, the main sources of this study are parliament proceedings; the documents of State Archives of Prime Ministry and other printed documents on this topic.