Summary
The Ottoman law of 1869 that codified a definition of Ottoman imperial citizenship (tabiiyet-i Osmaniye kanunnamesi) without reference to religion, defined the ‘Turkish subjects’ whom the 1925 Palestine Citizenship Order made citizens, and supported acquisition of nationality by jus sanguinis in ways the 1925 Order contradicted for Palestinians abroad (The Invention of Palestinian Citizenship, 1918–1947, PDF p.70 / printed p.59, PDF p.61-62 / printed p.50-51).
Details
- Article 7 of the law stated that all subjects were to be Ottomans without religious distinction, and that this nationality could be gained (jus soli and jus sanguinis) or lost according to the conditions in the law (PDF p.70 / printed p.59).
- As Karen Kern notes, this was a shift from subjecthood to citizenship and a unifying measure to cultivate the loyalty of all Ottomans to the state; according to Kemal Karpat, its wording attempted ‘to reconcile the Ottoman concept of nationality stemming from the millet [religious community] experience with the European idea of citizenship’ by creating a direct relationship between the individual and the state; in practical terms the law simply concerned the means towards the acquisition of Ottoman nationality (PDF p.70 / printed p.59).
- Following Hanley, Banko argues the law did not grant political rights of citizenship nor totally transform Ottoman subjecthood; its practical impact for ordinary Ottomans was its application through control of mobility, identity documents, the census, taxation, military service and access to law courts (PDF p.70-71 / printed p.59-60).
- Traditionally in the Ottoman Empire national status passed through patrilineal descent without official restrictions upon how many generations could claim Ottoman nationality (PDF p.60 / printed p.49).
- The 1922 Legislative Election Order’s conditions in the Ottoman Nationality Law of 1869 remained the basis for the provisional nationality of Arabs (PDF p.52-53 / printed p.41-42).
- Article 1 of the 1925 Order’s ‘Turkish subjects’ referred to all Ottoman nationals as defined by the Ottoman Nationality Law of 1869 (PDF p.61 / printed p.50).
- The 1925 Order’s ‘born in Palestine’ wording contradicted the standards based on Lausanne, British nationality law, the 1869 Ottoman law and the nationality laws of the French mandates, all of which supported the acquisition of jus sanguinis nationality (PDF p.62 / printed p.51).
Related pages
The Invention of Palestinian Citizenship, 1918–1947, Tanzimat, Palestinian nationality, Palestine Citizenship Order-in-Council 1925, Treaty of Lausanne