Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Since 1937 Turkey has had two main Forestry laws (Laws 3116 and 6831) and a host of ammendment
laws. An index of these laws is provided in APPENDIX_1.
In 1937 a law was passed legally defining all Forests in Turkey and in 1945 an ammendment was
passed ammending this definition and Nationalising all Forests within the new definition . Because the
detailed survey of the country for the purpose of identifying forests is still not yet complete,
Government forest boundaries are still being determined and as a result the most current Legal
definition of a Forest has always played a key role in deciding what land should be Nationalised.
THE FOREST LAW 3116 of 1937 (see APPENDIX_2) for latest ammended version) was the first
Forest law since the establishment of the Turkish Republic to make a legal definition of Forests and to
establish Forest policies. Before it was ammended in 1950) this law (clause 21) decreed that maps of all
Forest areas in Turkey should be prepared within 10 years.
AMMENDMENT 4785 of 1945 (see APPENDIX_3) redefined and Nationalised all Legal Forests
with some exceptions. The most important exceptions were Forests of poplar, willow, alder, acasia,
eucalyptus, cypress, nut bearing stone pine, oak and wild chesnut.
This law required Forest owners to declare their land within one year or lose the right to any
compensation if their land was Nationalised. Compensation was to be offered based on 1936 land
values and such offers were to be valid for 5 years after which no compensation would be paid.
AMMENDMENT 5653 was passed in 1950 (see APPENDIX_2). This law changed clauses 1 and 3
(among others) of Forest law 3116 redefing Legal Forests as follows :
"A collection of trees or bushes occurring naturally or planted by people" with the exception of
the following : "
Maquis areas were now specifically excluded from being defined as Legal Forest. Maquis Comissions
were set up to conduct surveys in order to identify and reclassify Maquis areas previously defined as
National Forest areas.
Legal Forests were again redefined as "naturally occurring or planted collections of trees or shrubs
together with the land they occupy."
Exceptions were again listed as follows: "
Reedbeds
Steppes
Ç) parks
(ammendment 2896 clause 1 of 23/9/1983) tree and shrub covered areas in city cemeteries and in old
cemeteries located inside municipality and
Village limits.
Private land containing trees and shrubs which do not grow
naturally in surrounding Forests
(ammendment no 3373 clause 1 of 22/5/1987). Private registered land within Forest land or ajacent to
Forest land, any private land outside Forest areas used as agricultural land containing random or
orderly arranged trees or clumps of any species of tree or shrub.
(ammendment no 3373 clause 1 of 22/5/1987). Private land less than 3 hectars in area located outside
Forest areas containing any kind of tree or shrub.
Private land containing or scheduled to be planted with (according to the suitability of the region) any
kind of fruit bearing tree or shrub, including stone (nut bearing) pine and (acorn bearing) oak,
(ammendment no 2896 clause 1 of 23/9/1983). Private land containing grafted and ungrafted olive trees,
land containing wild olive trees that has been separated from government Forest by special law
provided that the improvement and ownership conditions have been met and land containing wild
and grafted nut trees, mastic trees and … trees as specified by law 77 of 9//1956.
Land covered by maquis and heather and land that does not have
conservation characteristics. "
However since the National Survey of Turkish Forests had still not been completed by then (and is still
ongoing) the Nationalisation Law 4785 and its ammendment law 5658 were not abolished and are still
used to Nationalise newly surveyed land if it is deemed to be Legal Forest.
This current Forestry law 6831 in Clause_2B also made specific provision for the return of certain
Legal Forest lands to their previous owners, namely:
"Fields, vineyards, gardens, orchards, olive groves , hazelnut tree groves, nut tree groves (pistacio, pine
nut) and similar agricultural areas or grazing land, winter sheltering areas, and summer mountain
pastures which technicallyand scientifically ceased to be Forest before 31 december 1981 and whose
use for agricultural or stock.."
II. EVALUATION
According to statistics from the Forestry Department, 26% of Turkey’s total land area of 77,056,192
hectares (20,199,296 hectares) is Forest. Needless to say the Nationalisation of Turkish Forests has
affected a huge number of landowners over the last 59 years.
It is estimated that about 14% of the country has still not yet been surveyed by the Forestry Comissions.
Therfore there is still a lot of private land whose Legal ownership is still uncertain because it may still
be considered Forest when eventually surveyed.
1. The process of surveying the whole of Turkey by Forestry Commissions still continues today. The
same land cannot be surveyed twice. The principal object of the survey is to determine which areas
are to be Legally defined as Forest.
2. Once a survey is complete all legally defined Private Forest areas in it are Nationalised without
Compensation and the private title deeds are cancelled.
3. GATHERING OF FACTS : For the purpose of Nationalisation the physical features used to
determine the result of a survey should be those in maps, aerial photographs and other evidence
gathered and prepared according to Forest law 3116 in the 10 years following 1937.
4. INTERPRETATION OF FACTS : (are the physical features established above legal Forest or not?)
This has been done over the years according to criterion in the latest ammended version of the
Forestry Law in force on the date in question. Today it is done according to the most recently
ammended version of law 6831 introduced in 1956.APPENDIX_4
OBJECTION 1 Nationalisation of Forest Land should not occur without Compensation, yet in
accordance to Clause_5 and 8 of law 4785 compensation is no longer paid. This practice has been
unsuccessfully challenged in the highest courts including the Constitutional Court (see below):
A Constitutional Court case was brought against Clause_5 of law 4785 which states that: ' the owners
of the Nationalised Forests must declare them to their local Forestry Department within 1 year of the
date of this law together with their ownership and tax documents and in the case of disputed land with
their relevant court documents. If in one year they fail to carry out this duty they will lose the right to
compensation for their Nationalised Forest.' This case was Rejected by Constitutional Court decision
1965/51 OF 30/9/1965 -
OBJECTION 2. Law 4785 (APPENDIX_3) Nationalises all Forests in a general announcement without
directly informing individual Forest Owners that their land is classified as Legal Forest and without
directly informing the Owners of such land of the decision to Nationalise.
This law caused Landowners to lose their rights to compensation even if, being unaware of the
Nationalisation Law, they failed to declare within 1 year that their land was Forest . In fact Law 4785
assumes the Landowner knows if his land is Legally a Forest or not before the Specific Government
Survey is conducted.
These questions have been the subject of several court cases but in each instance the courts have upheld
the law.
A Constitutional Court Case was brought against Clause_no1 of law 4785 where it states that : ' these
Forests herby become Government property without any further procedure or notification.' The case
was rejected by Constitutional Court decision 1985/5 of 19/2/1985
Surveys are often conducted unprofessionally based on a cursory inspection and not on maps and aerial
photos prepared in the period between 1937 and 1947. The surveying comission is usually composed of
retired government Agricultural and Forestry_Engineers. There is a high risk that the comissions are not
objective.
OBJECTION 4 Failure of the government to return Nationalised Forest Land to its previous owners as
and when new ammendments to the Forestry Laws have permitted it.
Ammendment 5658 of 24/3/1950 to Law 4785 (see appendix 3 - law 4785 additional clause_2) allowed
certain land described as Legal Forest but surrounded by non Forest land to be returned to its previous
owners. Despite this ammendment, which is still valid, few such areas have been returned to their
previous owners.
Ammendment 5653 of 4/3/1950 to Forestry Law 3116 Clause_1 declared that certain types of Maquis
were no longer Legal Forest. This amendment was abolished in 1956 by the new Forestry Law 6831
The new Forest Law 6831 of 1956 also specifically excludes many categories of land from Legal Forest
including Maquis (Clause_1J). Little such land has been returned.
Supreme Court Judgement 1991/182 E 1991/174 K of 19/12/1991 (Yargitay 20’inci Hukuk Dairesi)
ruled that although the Maquis Survey Comissions were empowered to reclassify Forest as Maquis they
could not take Maquis out of Legal Forest Boundaries or return it to the previous owners.
Ammendment 3302 of 5/6/1986 Clause 2/B (see Clause_2B) to this Law provides specific guidelines
for the return of land, which used to be Forest but no longer exhibits these characteristics, to their
previous owners. However Constitutional Court intervention forbade this on the basis of article
ARTICLE_169 and ARTICLE_170 of the Constitution (appendix 5) (Constitutional Court
Judgements 1987/31-13 of 1/6/1988 and 1988/35-13 of 14/3/1989) and the Kadastre Law 3402 clause
45/3 was changed accordingly.
Despite the regular refusal of the Government to return land to their previous owners under any
circumstances, Clause_17 of law 6831 (see appendix 3) allows the Government to lease Forest Land for
up to 49 years provided it is in the national interest and these leases can be extended for a further 99
years. Land has even been leased in this way for Touristic Development, to Universities and even
Mining Companies.
APPENDICES
TEMPORARY CLAUSES
1. FORESTS BELONGING TO VILLAGERS AJACENT TO GOVERNMENT FORESTS
(EXCEPT FOR THOSE UNDER 50 HECTARS) AND FORESTS SEPARATE FROM
GOVERNMENT FORESTS BUT OVER 1000 HECTARS IN SIZE, WILL BE
EXPROPRIATED. FORESTS BELONGING TO VILLAGES, MUNUCIPALITIES
AND TRUSTS ARE EXEMPT. ALL EXPROPRIATONS WILL BE COMPLETED IN
TWO YEARS.
2. ALL EXPROPRIATIONS WILL BE ACCORDING TO OFFICIAL LAND
VALUATIONS MADE IN 1936 FOR CALCULATING LAND OR IN THE ABSENCE
OF THESE THE COMISSIONS MAY ESTIMATE A VALUE NOT MORE THAN 6
TIMES THE OFFICIAL VALUE IN 1331 (1915).
3 TO 8 MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS TO DO WITH PROCEDURES AND FOREST
MANAGEMENT
CLAUSES 133 TO 136 MOSTLY DEAL WITH THE RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
OF
VILLAGERS WITH REGARD TO THE USE OF THE
NEIGHBOURING
GOVERNMENT FOREST
(1)THE PRESENT FOREST LAW 6831 CLAUSE 117 ABOLISHES FOREST LAW NO 3116
OF 8.7.1937 AND ITS AMENDMENT LAW 5653 OF 31.8.1956. HOWEVER EVEN
THOUGH THIS LAW (4785) AND LAW NO 5658 OF 24.3.1950 ARE ABOUT FOREST
LAW 3116 THEY HAVE NOT BEEN ABOLISHED AND THEREFORE THEY ARE
INCLUDED IN OUR OUR COLLECTION)
THE REMAINDER OF THIS CLAUSE STIPULATES THAT FORESTS THAT HAVE NOT
BEEN NATIONALISED AS PER THE EXEPTIONS ABOVE ARE STILL UNDER THE
PROTECTION OF THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND AS SUCH CANNOT BE
BUILT ON OR PUT TO ANY OTHER USE WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF THE
MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE.
3. -----------
THIS CLAUSE WAS CANCELLED ON 23/6/1963 BY THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT
RULING NO 1963/141 DECISION NUMBER 1964/50
(THE CLAUSE HAD STIPULATED THAT COMPENSATION FOR NATIONALISED
FORESTS SHOULD BE ACCORDING TO THEIR VALUE DECLARED UNDER LAW 2901
BUT COULD NOT BE MORE THAN TWICE THE VALUE USED BY THE GOVERNMENT
FOR CALCULATING PROPERTY TAXES IN 1936.)
VOLUME ONE
DEFINITION, DELINEATION , DIVISION AND ADMINISTRATION OF FORESTS
CLAUSE 1 – naturally occurring or planted collections of trees or shrubs together with the
land they occupy shall be called Forest
Exceptions :
A) Reedbeds
B) Steppes
C) Land containing all types of prickly plants
Ç) Parks
D) (ammendment 2896 clause 1 of 23/9/1983) tree and shrub covered areas in City
Cemeteries and in old Cemeteries located inside municipality and village limits.
E) Private land containing trees and shrubs which do not grow
naturally in surrounding Forests
F) (ammendment no 3373 clause 1 of 22/5/1987). Private registered land within Forest land
or ajacent to Forest land, any private land outside Forest areas used as agricultural land
containing random or orderly arranged trees or clumps of any species of tree or shrub.
G) (ammendment no 3373 clause 1 of 22/5/1987). Private land less than 3 hectars in area
located outside Forest areas containing any kind of tree or shrub.
H) Private land containing or scheduled to be planted with (according to the suitability of the
region) any kind of fruit bearing tree or shrub, including stone (nut bearing) pine and
(acorn bearing) oak,
I) (ammendment no 2896 clause 1 of 23/9/1983). Private land containing grafted and
ungrafted olive trees, land containing wild olive trees that has been separated from
government Forest by special law provided that the improvement and ownership
conditions have been met and land containing wild and grafted nut trees, mastic trees and
… trees as specified by law 77 of 9//1956.
J) Land covered by maquis and heather and land that does not have
conservation characteristics.
The following land can be removed from the status of land classified as legal Forest :
A) Areas near Villages previously situated in Forests where in order for people to settle
preservation of the Forest has been judged to be scientifically unbeneficial, in fact where it
has been judged beneficial to change the Forest into agricultural land; and land containing
maquis still situated in Forest areas that it is judged beneficial to convert to agricultural
land.
B) Fields, vineyards, gardens, orchards, olive groves , hazelnut tree groves, nut tree groves
(pistacio, pine nut) and similar agricultural areas or grazing land, winter sheltering areas,
and summer mountain pastures which technically and scientifically ceased to be Forest
before 31 december 1981 and whose use for agricultural or stock-breeding purposes has
been found advantageous, and built-up areas in the vicinity of cities, towns or villages.
These areas that are removed from legal Forest boundaries shall be
declassified as Forest areas and registered in the name of the treasury if they belong to the
govrnment, in the name of private legal entities they belong to these entities, and in the
name of their individual owners if they are private Forests.
With the exception of these areas the Forest boundaries can never be shrunk.
The contents of this clause cannot be applied to : conservation Forests, Forests set aside as
national parks, Forests developed through leasing, land classified as legal Forest by clause 3,
and Forest land that has been burnt.
CLAUSE 3 –
CLAUSE 4 – With regard to ownership and management Forests can be divided into the
following categories:
A) Government Forests
B) Forests belonging to legal public institutions
C) Private Forests
With regard to attributes and characteristics Forests can be divided into the following
categories :
A) Preservation Forests
B) National Parks
C) Production Forests
CLAUSE 5 –
VOLUME TWO
The fees and expenses of such Comission shall be included in the budget law every year
The details of how the Comissions will work shall be included in separate guidelines
(AMMENDMENT 3302 CLAUSE 4 OF 5/6/1986): Forest Survey Reports and Reports for
Surveys conducted under Clause 2B of this Law shall be prepared for every village and
entered into the Report Book, and reports for surveys conducted under clause 2A of this law
shall be prepared for one or more villages or for all the villages in a municipal area and
entered into the Report Book. These reports shall be signed by the Head of the Comission, the
Members of the Comission, the Experts, and if they are present the Owners or Occupıers of
land in or next to the Forest or their legal representatives.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is responible for making or comissioning aerial
photos for use in surveying and other Forestry services.
Separate guidelines will be issued with regard to measuring techniques.
Boundary points shall be marked with immovable stone or cement markers. Changing the
location of these boundary points is forbidden.
CLAUSE 12 –
CLAUSES 18 TO 19
V. CONSERVATION FORESTS
CLAUSE 23 TO 24
VOLUME THREE
FORESTS BELONGING TO LEGAL PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS
VOLUME FOUR
PRIVATE FORESTS
VOLUME FIVE
COMMON CLAUSES
VOLUME SIX
MISCELLANEOUS CLAUSES
CLAUSES 115 TO 119