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The settlement of tunisian immigrants in Syria in the beginning of the 20 century... 375

the Governor of Syria Hulusi Bey to the Ministry of Internal Affairs on
the 28 of November 1914, 17 immigrants of British and French na-
th
tionality from Algeria and Tunisia were settled. The governor reports
that these immigrants had applied for Ottoman citizenship .
49
One of the most important issues regarding the immigrants reset-
tled in the Ottoman lands was the exemptions granted to them. The
Ottoman State initially exempted immigrants who took refuge, from
taxation for 10 years and from military service for 25 years. The aim
here was to enable the immigrants to become producers as soon as
possible. However, this meant economic loss for the state over a long
period of time, and for this reason, the exemption period was reduced
for the immigrants during the 1877-1878 Ottoman-Russian War to 3
years exemption from taxes and 10 years exemption from military ser-
vice. As both the number of immigrants and their burden on the state
increased, changes were made again in 1889 regarding exemptions.
After this date, tax exemption of immigrants was determined as 2
years and military service exemption as 6 years.
Immigrants from Tunisia and Algeria who were settled in Syria in
1888 were exempt from military service for 20 years. A letter was sent
to the provinces of Syria, Adana, Aleppo and Beirut and the governors
of Jerusalem and Zor in 1908, when this period expired, and the pro-
cedures were initiated . Likewise, Tunisian immigrants who came and
50
settled in Syria in the following years were exempt from military ser-
vice for 6 years. The military exemption of these immigrants expired
in 1909. As a result of the correspondence between the 5 Army Com-
th
mand, the Ministry of War, Foreign Affairs and Internal Affairs and the
Grand Vizier in September 1911, it was decided to grant the same
exemption to newly arrived Tunisian and Algerian immigrants .
51
Not only deciding on the geography to be resettled, but also trans-
porting the immigrants to the settlement was an important issue in
immigrant resettlement. The government has also acted very selflessly
regarding the dispatch of Tunisian immigrants who came to Syria but
were not found suitable for settlement there. The food, accommodation

49 «About the Russian, French, British and Tunisian and Algerian immigrants who
want to come to Syria and become Ottoman citizens». BOA, DH.EUM. 5. Şb. 4/53, 28
November 1914; «Correspondence regarding the requests of Tunisian immigrants to be-
come Ottoman citizenship». BOA, DH.ŞFR. 450/142, 28 November 1914.
50 «Conscription of immigrants who have settled in Syria because their military ser-
vice exemption period has expired». BOA, MV. 119/73, 29 June 1908.
51 «Decisions on Tunisian and Algerian immigrants settled in Syria». BOA, ŞD.
653/58, 13 May 1911; «On the exemption of immigrants from Tunisia to Syria from
military service for six years». MV. 153/53, 19 June 1911; «Exemption of Tunisian im-
migrants settled in Syria from military service». BOA, DH.MB.HPS.M. 1/41, 11 July
1911; «Military service exemption of Tunisian immigrants who settled in Syria». BOA,
BEO. 3941/295504, 29 September 1911.

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