The capitulations that were effective in the collapse of the Ottoman Empire also included the right of cabotage, which included transportation privileges for foreign ships. The Turkish nation, which concluded the War of Independence with victory, abolished the imperialists’ colonial cabotage privileges with the Lausanne Peace Treaty signed in 1923. Three years after this date; on July 1, 1926, the Cabotage Law was accepted in the Turkish Grand National Assembly. Then, a series of regulations were made to transfer the right to transport goods and passengers in the Sea of Marmara and the Straits, in all territorial waters of Turkey, in gulfs, ports, bays and similar places to Turkish citizens. A major effort was initiated for the national transformation of docks and port enterprises, and the companies and customs companies affiliated with them on the coasts, especially in Istanbul, all over the country. Let’s take a closer look at the national trade mobilization that continued in Turkish docks throughout July 98 years ago…
MEDITERRANEAN LAND PORTS
According to Vilma Hastaoglu Martinidis, who has studies on Istanbul ports, Istanbul, like all of the Mediterranean, had a port architecture where the dock and the city were not separated by clear lines. Around the Golden Horn Dock, customs and trade businesses were lined up along Karaköy and Eminönü, creating an appearance where the port spread out onto the land. In 1854, the first port and dock operations were given to Marius Michel, the General Director of the Lighthouses Administration at the time. The foreign company would have various privileges for 75 years.
PRIVILEGES TO FOREIGNERS
Ali Bozoğlu’s article ‘History of Istanbul Docks’ covers the historical course of the privileges at the docks. Accordingly, the privilege contract was rearranged in 1890 and the 75-year privilege period granted was increased to 85 years and it was decided that it would continue until 1964. It is stated that the first company was established in 1891 with a capital of 23 million gold francs. The contract also includes the obligation to build administrative buildings next to the docks, the transfer of the land to be filled in the sea to the company’s ownership, and the construction of a dock between the Galata Bridge and the Unkapanı Bridge.
BEYOND DREAMS
While foreign dock companies were established in Istanbul in the second half of the 19th century, the beginning of the privileges granted in maritime transportation dates back to 1838, when the Ottoman Foreign Minister Mustafa Reşit Pasha asked for help from the British to suppress the rebellion of the Egyptian Governor, Kavalali Mehmet Ali Pasha. In return for the aid, representatives of Great Britain signed the agreement in a mansion in Baltalimanı, where they obtained important privileges. The agreement was ratified separately by Queen Victoria and Sultan Mahmud II on 8 October 1838. According to the agreement, no taxes would be collected from British ships in Ottoman ports. The British Ambassador of the time, Ponsonby, described the agreement in question as “so much beyond our dreams that we had no need to ask for more.”
THE COASTS GO TO FOREIGNERS
The capitulations had placed trade in the Turkish seas under the monopoly of foreign individuals and companies. Pilotage and tugboat services, passenger and goods transportation services, as well as port services, were in the hands of foreigners. In Karaköy, Eminönü, and Kadıköy, the docks, ports, and commercial buildings became the property of foreign merchants. However, in the early 1900s, the “Istanbul Dock and Warehouse Turkish Joint Stock Company” was preparing to take over the privileges held by foreigners.
CINILI CUSTOMS
One of the real estates owned by a foreign dock company in Istanbul was the famous Rıhtım Han in Galata. Built in 1910 at a cost of 733,000 francs, the business center was known as “Tiled Customs” because its facades were covered with tiles. The wharf, docks and warehouses owned by the foreign company, along with the concession rights, were purchased for an amount over 1 billion French Francs, the fee was paid in 62 installments, and the last payment was made on 1 May 1974.
PORT DISTRICTS WERE FORMED
The dock managements were effective in Karaköy, the heart of Istanbul, taking its current form. The building used as the Port Authority in Karaköy today and the Central Rıhtım Inn, where the General Directorate of Turkish Maritime Operations is located, were built in 1912. Ziraat Bank and Austrian Bank at the beginning of Rıhtım Street rose one after the other in 1937. On the same date, a passenger lounge and a Liman Restaurant were built between the Central and Çinili Inns. Adorned with casinos opened around the quay, street vendors selling unique examples of Istanbul cuisine, and small kiosks, Karaköy has become a port district where colorful city life continues uninterruptedly.
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