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372 Erdal Taşbaş

Tunisian and Algerian immigrants who were in the Syrian Province
had not yet been settled. In the document in question, it was decided
to increase the allocation given to the immigrants, and if possible, to
allow them to be resettled, otherwise it was decided to allocate land as
soon as possible without giving them a daily wage .
41
After Italy occupied Libya on the 29 of September 1911, a group
th
of Algerian and Tunisian immigrants wanted to come to Damascus
and settle because of the Italian-Ottoman War (Tripoli War), which
would last for about a year. However, these immigrants sent a petition
to the sultan stating that they were unfairly treated in Damascus and
that they were devastated by hunger and misery. Upon this petition,
the government asked the Syrian Province the reasons for this misery
and requested the actual number of these immigrants. On the 8 of
th
January 1913, a reply was received from the Syrian Province. Accord-
ing to this, the number of immigrants who came to Damascus on the
25 of December 1911 was 196 in total, 164 adults and 32 children.
th
The governorship states that the nutritional needs of all these immi-
grants were met .
42
As can be seen in the documents above, from the end of the 19 cen-
th
tury until 1913, the Ottoman State had great difficulties in settling the
immigrants from both Tunisia and other countries in Syria. In a period
when the state suffered from economic and political troubles, of course,
immigrants were in the worst difficulties. Because immigrants who could
not be settled had great difficulties in finding shelter and nutrition for
years as they could not get back to their homes and lands.
One of the problems that both the Ottoman State and the immi-
grants experienced in terms of resettlement was the issue of citizen-
ship. This problem had to be solved from the outset due to the state’s
previous experience. Immigrants, who had some economic privileges
for a certain period of time, could claim that they belonged to a foreign
state in order to benefit from the capitulations of foreign states after
these privileges ended. Especially the French citizenship of Algerian
immigrants should be seen as not their loyalty to France but as an
expression of conscious pragmatism. Because they were aware of the
various economic, political and military exemptions of living as French
citizens in Ottoman lands. This was a significant problem for the
43
Ottomans to handle with caution. Because of these bitter experiences,

41 «Requesting the settlement costs of Tunisian and Algerian immigrants who are
guests in the Syrian Province from the Ministry of Finance». BOA, BEO. 3888/291529,
30 April 1911.
42 «Notifying the government of the complaints of Algerian and Tunisian immigrants
who settled in Damascus due to the Tripoli War to the government». BOA, BEO.
4130/309704, 02 January 1913.
43 N. Amara, Faire la France en Algérie cit., p. XXIX.

Mediterranea - ricerche storiche - Anno XX - Agosto 2023
ISSN 1824-3010 (stampa) ISSN 1828-230X (online)