Surname Law (Turkey)

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Mustafa Kemal Atatürk

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Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's signature

The Surname Law (

surnames. Turkish families in the major urban centres had names by which they were known locally (often ending with the suffixes -zade, -oğlu or -gil), and were used in a similar manner with a surname. The Surname Law of 1934 enforced the use of official surnames but also stipulated that citizens choose Turkish names. Until it was repealed in 2013, the eldest male was the head of household and Turkish law appointed him to choose the surname. However, in his absence, death, or mental incapacitation the wife would do so.[2]

Origin

Atatürk's identity documents after the Surname Law

Instead of a European style surname, Muslims in the Ottoman Empire carried

generals/admirals
carried the title Pasha. Retired generals/admirals or high-ranking civil servants continued to carry this title in civilian life (a "Pasha" did not become a "Bey" after retiring from active military or political service.)

Turkish MP Refik Şefik İnce suggested that, instead of using the term Soyadı (Ancestry Name) Kanunu, the term Sanadı (Reputation Name) Kanunu should have been used for the Surname Law, referring to the method that was used for naming Muslim families in the Ottoman period, based on their reputation or fame in society. However, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey decided to use the term Soyadı because it denoted the meaning of ancestry, family, or relative.[3]

Rules

The articles of the Soy Adı Kanunu[4] stipulated that:

  1. All Turks must bear their surnames in addition to their proper names;
  2. The surname must follow the proper name in signing, speaking and writing;
  3. Names may not relate to military rank and civil officialdom; to tribes, foreign races or ethnicities; nor may they be offensive or ridiculous. The use of "historical names" without the proper genealogical evidence is also forbidden.

The surname law specifically forbade certain surnames that contained connotations of foreign cultures, nations, tribes and religions.[5][6][7][8] New surnames had to be taken from the Turkish language. The surname could be used with the ‑oğlu ending but it was forbidden to use Armenian endings such as ‑ian or ‑yan, Slavic endings such as ‑of (or ‑ov), ‑vich, ‑ic, Greek endings such as ‑is, ‑dis, ‑pulos, ‑aki, Persian endings such as ‑zade, and Arab endings such as ‑mahdumu, ‑veled, and ‑bin, "referring to other ethnicities or taken from another language." For example, names such as Arnavutoğlu (the Albanian's son) or Kürtoğlu (the Kurd's son), could not be used. Names of clans or tribes could not be used, or re-used.[9] Additionally, names could not be duplicated in the same district, and, in case of any dispute, the family that registered first got the right to keep the claimed name.[10]

Implementation

As a result, many

Jews, Arabs, Armenians, Assyrians, Georgians, Serbs and Kurds were forced to adopt last names of a more Turkish rendition,[5] sometimes by directly translating their original surnames or otherwise just replacing markers such as Pontic Greek "‑ides" (son of) with Turkish "‑oğlu" (Kazantzoglou, Mitroglou, Mouratoglou, etc.).[citation needed
]

See also

References

  1. ^ 1934 in history, Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
  2. ^ Turkoz, Meltem (2004). "The Social Life of the State's Fantasy: Memories and Documents on Turkey's Surname Law of 1934". ScholarlyCommons. University of Pennsylvania: 1–226. Retrieved 2020-05-28.
  3. ISBN 978-1-317-09580-4
    .
  4. ^ "Soy Adı Kanunu" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-01-07.
  5. ^
    ISBN 9781780760261
    .
  6. doi:10.4000/ejts.4142
    . Retrieved 16 January 2013. the Surname Law was meant to foster a sense of Turkishness within society and prohibited surnames that were related to foreign ethnicities and nations
  7. ISBN 9780195393743
    .
  8. S2CID 59138386
    . Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  9. ^ "Soy Adı Nizamnamesi" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-11-23.
  10. S2CID 144470074
    .

External links
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