Abstract
Migration from the Balkans to Muğla and Socio-Political Changes
Migration from the Balkans cowards Anatolia dates back to 1877 as the Ottoman Empire started losing land due to wars. In this period immigrants were placed in the Muğla region because of hs politic, strategic and economic state. One of the reasons which make the region important is the non-muslims and its military strategy. The islands surrounding the area were taken out of the hands of the Ottoman Empire in the beginning of the 20th century and this event made the region open to danger from within the country and out. For this reason immigrants were placed here to balance the population and to make it a safe place from the military point. Following the Louzanne Treaty the non-muslims were evacuated and this area was replaced with immigrants. But many problems were encountered when this event took place- The immigrants needed land to cultivate, but most of the region was forestry. And the agricultural land belonged to certain people or were farms belonging to pious foundations. For these reasons only a small number of immigrants were placed in this region and they were also unjustly treated in this sense. During 1912-1951 an approximate number of 50 thousand immigrants were placed in Milas, Bodrum and Fethiye regions. This number represents 25 % of the general population. The ethnical structure of the region was homogenized with the migration movement and this provided a social and economic movement in the area. This also brought an increase in the forestry and land cases in the district courts.<
Keywords
Muğla (Menteşe), Migration, Social and Economic Change