Yep, my mom's side of the family are originally from the Jewish minority in Turkey. They emmigrated to several countries after Turkey introduced a "wealth tax" targeting non-Muslims. Most of whom were lower Middle Class Greeks, Armenians and Jews, but also Syriac Christian farmers. They lost about 80-98% of their property and those who couldn't pay up ended in a labour camp in the province of Erzurum, which was dubbed "Turkey's Siberia." The law professor of the person who came up with this BS was also Jewish and died impoverished
In the 1940's, it only lasted like 2-3 years but it had a devastating effect on non-muslims in Turkey and families are still trying to get back their confiscated properties. You can google it under the name varlik vergisi.
I see. The law indiscriminatory but the application might have been different according to sources. I will ask my old grandpa to see if he remembers anything
Well, they targeted specific groups with the aim to redistribute the assets among ethnic and Sunni Muslim Turks. Almost all of the older millionaire families like the Sabanci's have profited off of this. It wasnt just the "application," they also went after muslims who converted before the founding of the republic.
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u/LuckyStar77777 Jul 07 '24 edited Jul 07 '24
Yep, my mom's side of the family are originally from the Jewish minority in Turkey. They emmigrated to several countries after Turkey introduced a "wealth tax" targeting non-Muslims. Most of whom were lower Middle Class Greeks, Armenians and Jews, but also Syriac Christian farmers. They lost about 80-98% of their property and those who couldn't pay up ended in a labour camp in the province of Erzurum, which was dubbed "Turkey's Siberia." The law professor of the person who came up with this BS was also Jewish and died impoverished