Village Law (Turkey)

The Village Law (Turkish: Köy Kanunu; Law No. 442 of 1924) is a law of Turkey regarding the villages of that country.

Provisions

Article 1 defines a village as a settlement with a population of less than 2,000 individuals.[1]

Village headman and council of elders

Articles 9 through 11 of the Village Law regulate the positions of the headman (muhtar) and council of elders (köy ihtiyar heyeti), requiring that they be elected every four years by secret ballot. The headman is the link between the central government and the village.[2][3] The law of 1924 also requires that a village is only a village if it has a Mosque.[4] The law was substituted by the law No. 4916 of 2003.[5]

Village guards

Main article: Village guard system

In 1985, Article 74 of the Village Law was amended to create the Temporary Village Guards (Geçici Köy Koruculuğu) system.[6][7]

Provisions relating to foreigners

Article 87 of the Village Law originally barred foreigners (or companies under the control of foreigners) from owning land in Turkish villages. It was amended in 1984 to permit the Council of Ministers to grant an exception to the bar on foreign ownership. The Constitutional Court struck down this amendment. The legislature passed a similar amendment in 1986, which was also struck down.[8] Article 87 was repealed in 2003 by Article 19 of the Law Concerning Amendments to Various Laws and the Statutory Decree Concerning the Organisation and Duties of the Ministry of Finance (Law No. 4916 of 2003).

As of 2012, Article 88 still bars foreigners from residing in Turkish villages without permission from the Ministry of the Interior.[1]

Amendments proposed in 2009

Amendments to the Village Law were proposed in 2009.[9][10][11] The law had been in force for 85 years without major reorganisation by that point.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b Kocaoğlu, Şebnem Elif (2012). "Laws and Regulations Applicable to Foreigners in Turkey: A Practical Overview of the Legal Requirements for Visa, Residence, and Work Permit" (PDF). Ankara Bar Review: 13, 22. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  2. ^ Starr, June (1978). Dispute and Settlement in Rural Turkey: An Ethnography of Law. Brill. p. 89. ISBN 978-9004056619.
  3. ^ Casson, Ronald W.; Özertug, Bânû (1976). "Respect and address in a Turkish village: a quantitative sociolinguistic account". American Ethnologist. 3 (4): 587. doi:10.1525/ae.1976.3.4.02a00030.
  4. ^ Bayir, Derya (2016-04-22). Minorities and Nationalism in Turkish Law. Routledge. p. 113. ISBN 978-1-317-09580-4.
  5. ^ Turkey Land Ownership and Agricultural Laws Handbook - Strategic Information and Basic Laws. Lulu.com. 2015-07-10. p. 55. ISBN 978-1-329-16437-6.
  6. ^ Gurcan, Metin (2015). "Arming civilians as a counterterror strategy: The case of the village guard system in Turkey". Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflict. 8: 1–22. doi:10.1080/17467586.2014.948026. hdl:11693/23791. S2CID 53610439.
  7. ^ Özar, Şemsa; Uçarlar, Nesrin; Aytar, Osman (2013). From Past to Present, a Paramilitary Organization in Turkey: Village Guard System (PDF). Disa Publications. ISBN 978-605-5458-19-5. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  8. ^ Atar, Nursal (2008). "The Historical Development of the Ownership of Real Property in Turkey by Foreigners" (PDF). Ankara Bar Review (2): 114. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  9. ^ Bilgin, Sibel; Altunok, Hatice (2013). "Yönetsel ve Mali Boyutlarıyla Köy Kanunu Tasarı Taslağı" [Draft Bill on Villages With its Administrative and Financial Dimensions] (PDF). Çağdaş Yerel Yönetimler. 22 (3): 79. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  10. ^ Altan, Yakup; Kerman, Uysal; Aktel, Mehmet (2010). "Köy Kanunu Tasarısı Taslağı Üzerine Bir Değerlendirme" [An Assessment on the Village Draft Bill] (PDF). Dumlupınar Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi (26). Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  11. ^ Eldem, Hulusi (2015). "Yerel Yönetimler Reformunun Bir Parçası Olarak Köy Kanunu Tasarı Taslağı" [As a Part of the Local Government Reform, the Village and Village Law Bill]. Optimum Ekonomi Ve Yönetim Bilimleri Dergisi. 2 (1): 39. doi:10.17541/oeybd.01543. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  12. ^ "85 yıllık köy kanunu değişiyor". Hürriyet. 31 December 2008. Retrieved 11 June 2018.