Varlık Vergisi

[2] It was a discriminatory measure which taxed non-Muslims up to ten times more heavily and resulted in a significant amount of wealth and property being transferred to Muslims.

This tax targeted fixed assets, including landed estates, buildings, businesses, and industrial enterprises owned by all citizens but disproportionately affected minorities.

By diminishing the influence and control of minority populations in trade, finance, and industries, the government aimed to create a new Turkish Muslim bourgeoisie.

[32] Those unable to meet the obligation resorted to borrowing from friends or family, selling properties at public auctions, or offloading businesses to gather funds.

[39] Elderly individuals, unable to endure the rigorous labor, collaborated with younger villagers from Aşkale, paying them daily wages to work in their stead.

[45] The state also seized property from close relatives – parents, parents-in-law, children, and siblings – selling it to settle tax amounts, even if the individual had been consigned to forced labor.

[47] Foreign-passport residents in Turkey who gave in a tax return or owned a business were forced to pay a huge capital levy on supposed wealth too, although none of them were ruined or committed suicide.

Devoid of any factual basis, the tax seemed to arise solely from the authorities' whims,[48] prompting foreign embassies and consulates to intervene on behalf of their nationals.

Companies, compelled to offset losses, sharply increased product prices, triggering an inflationary spiral that adversely impacted low-income consumers.

[55] Following its abolition, minority citizens detained in labor camps were released,[56] and though the Turkish government pledged to refund paid taxes to non-Muslims, this promise went unfulfilled.