LIQUIDATION PROCESS OF THE OTTOMAN VAQFS ON LESVOS ISLAND

Conquered in 1462 by sultan mehmet ii, lesvos island facing the narrow seas was located on crucial trade roads which together with its fertile soil made it an important territory in ottoman history. with the coming of the ottoman rule, vaqf system was established on the island. the rapidly growing vaqfs served as a visible connection between the island and the ottoman empire. the greek war of independence, 1877-78 ottoman-russian war, berlin congress that followed, balkan wars, world war i, turkish war of independence and signing of the population exchange policy and lausanne treaty that followed, all resulted in decreasing of the muslim-turk population in greece who migrated to anatolia either forced or voluntarily. migrants were allowed to take their personal belongings however they were obliged to leave the vaqfs real estates. this work aims at explaining the process of liquidation of ottoman vaqfs on lesvos.