Refugees, Locals and “The” State: Property Compensation in the Province of Izmir Following the Greco-Turkish Population Exchange of 1923

This article studies the application of laws regulating the settlement and compensation of migrants who came to Turkey from Greece in the course of the population exchange. By using petitions and administrative documents, it discusses the questions of legality and legitimacy with regard to two problems: First, the status of exchangees as a group privileged by law, and second, the bureaucratic procedure through which they were given temporary property rights (tefviz). The article shows that laws can by no means be taken to be identical with their application, and that various notions of legality and legitimacy were at play, both in different state administrations and among those affected by their policies. It thus makes an important contribution to a better understanding of the relationship between law, state and society in early Republican Turkey.