“Armenian Abandoned Properties”

In 1916, according to Turkey, 5,000,000 Lira (equal to 30,000 kg of gold) was deposited by the Ottoman government at the Reichsbank in Berlin, accrued as returns from “Armenian Abandoned Properties”. That’s the name Turkey gave to the confiscation, plunder, mass theft, expropriation of Armenian properties. As a result of this policy, a whole generation of Turkish-owned profiteering firms were “established” in 1916 and then mushroomed across Turkey, enriching themselves through the liquidation of the Armenian middle class. Young Turks and later Ataturk distributed Armenian properties to their friends, the local Turkish elite and to party supporters. At the time a newspaper (“Ikdam”) published an article openly exhorting Turks to “get rich” in the “economic revolution” of the Armenian asset grab. The newspaper said: “It is the revolution in this nation’s economy, rather than the political changes, that will save this nation and will provide him with an eternal life.” Yes, over Armenian graves.

In 1916, according to Turkey, 5,000,000 Lira (equal to 30,000 kg of gold) was deposited by the Ottoman government at the Reichsbank in Berlin, accrued as returns from “Armenian Abandoned Properties”. That’s the name Turkey gave to the confiscation, plunder, mass theft, expropriation of Armenian properties. As a result of this policy, a whole generation of Turkish-owned profiteering firms were “established” in 1916 and then mushroomed across Turkey, enriching themselves through the liquidation of the Armenian middle class. Young Turks and later Ataturk distributed Armenian properties to their friends, the local Turkish elite and to party supporters. At the time a newspaper (“Ikdam”) published an article openly exhorting Turks to “get rich” in the “economic revolution” of the Armenian asset grab. The newspaper said: “It is the revolution in this nation’s economy, rather than the political changes, that will save this nation and will provide him with an eternal life.” Yes, over Armenian graves.