An abstract of the thesis of Bahar Bilgen for the degree of Master of Arts degree from the Atatürk Institute for Modern Turkish History to be taken September 2007

Implementation of Land and Agricultural Reform Law No. 1757 in Urfa (1960-1980)

This thesis focuses on the implementation period of Land and Agricultural Reform Law No. 1757 in Urfa which was the region of implementation. The law remained in force between 1973-1978. After the application of the Democratic Party to the Constitutional Court, the law was abrogated in 1977. The Constitutional Court gave a one-year term to pass a new law; however, there wasn’t any attempt to make a new law. As a result, Law No. 1757 ceased to have force in 1978. Until Law No. 3083 the Agricultural Reform Law on Land Arrangement in Irrigation Regions inured in 1984, several articles of the Law No. 1757 remained in force. Law No. 1757 was implemented in a very restricted way; nevertheless, it had drastic effects in Urfa. This law was a very flexible law that it may create a transformative effect in the region of implementation depending on the interpretation of certain articles related to expropriation and types of enterprises. On the other hand, it contained certain articles that allowed large land owners to compensate their loss or even avoid the expropriation process. In this respect, the success of the implementation very much depended on the government. The main questions of the thesis are that what kinds of effects the implementation of land reform had both on landless peasants and land owners and what their reactions were to being included in the process. The land reform had to be perceived as an implementation that might facilitate egalitarian social structure in a geography where not much industrial employment opportunities were provided and where serious inequalities were observed in land dispersion.

Atatürk Ilkeleri ve Inkilap Tarihi Enstitüsü’nde Yüksek Lisans derecesi için Bayram Sen tarafindan Eylül 2007’de teslim edilen tezin kisa özeti

1757 Sayili Toprak ve Tarim Reformu Kanunu’nun Urfa’da Uygulama Süreci (1960-1980)

Bu tez 1757 Sayili Toprak ve Tarim Reformu Yasasi’nin uygulama sürecini incelemektedir. Bu yasa pilot bölge olarak seçilen Urfa’da uygulanmistir. Yasa 1973-1978 yillari arasinda yürürlükte kalmistir. Demokratik Parti’nin Anayasa Mahkemesi’ne basvurmasindan sonra yasa 1977 yilinda iptal edilmis ve yeni bir yasa çikarilmasi için bir yillik süre taninmistir. Ancak yeni bir yasa çikarmak yönünde herhangi bir adim atilmamistir. 1984 yilinda 3083 Sayili Sulama Alanlarinda Arazi Düzenlenmesine Dair Tarim Reformu Kanunu çikana kadar, 1757 No.lu yasanin belirli maddeleri yürürlükte kalmistir. Temel olarak yasanin çikis süreci, uygulama süreci ve sonrasi ele alinmaktadir. Bu anlamda tez, 60–80 arasi dönemi kapsamaktadir. Yasa her ne kadar çok sinirli ölçüde uygulanmis olsa da, Urfa için çok etkili sonuçlari olmustur. Bu yasa maddelerinin yorumlanmasina göre çok çesitli uygulama sonuçlari doguracak kadar esnek bir yasaydi. Bir taraftan bölgede sosyal ve ekonomik iliskileri dönüstürücü bir etkisi olabilecekken, di