Mustafa Kemal Atatürk; Establishment of Farms
Mustafa Kemal Pasha deemed it appropriate to use the rest of the aid money sent from India in the field of agriculture, and for this purpose, the Forest Farm in Ankara, the Tekir and Knight Farms near Silifke, the Piloğlu Farm in Tarsus, the Karabasamak Farm and orange grove in Dörtyol, and the Baltacı and Millet Farms in Yalova were purchased piece by piece from their owners and the abandoned property administration. Hasan Rıza Bey stated that during the foundation period, when land was very cheap and money was very precious, the money paid for the purchase of the entire land did not exceed 100,000-120,000 liras.
In a study on Atatürk Forest Farm, it was revealed based on the land registry records that the land was purchased from its owners in a process starting in 1925 and continuing until the 1930s, as stated by Hasan Rıza Bey.
When the purpose of the establishment of the farms is investigated, it is seen that Mustafa Kemal Pasha stated that the purpose was to conduct scientific and practical experiments in the field of agriculture and agricultural economics, and that he had established farms in different parts of the country at various times for this purpose.
Hasan Rıza Bey also explained that the aim was to create free-running model farms in regions that differed from each other in terms of climate and crops, in order to conduct various experiments on the one hand, and to serve as an example and guide for the surrounding villages on the other.
İsmet Pasha stated that Mustafa Kemal Pasha had established these farms against the idea that good crops could not be obtained under harsh and unproductive conditions in various climates of the country.
Writers of the period also expressed what was intended by the establishment of the Forest Farm. Falih Rıfkı Bey (Atay) explained that Mustafa Kemal Pasha had decided to build a wetland with trees next to the city, while everyone was thinking half-hopeless in the face of the desert-like land.[24] Yunus Bey (Nadi) stated that the purpose of the establishment of the Forest Farm was to show what human determination and effort could do in the most unlikely places.
In the spring of 1925, Mustafa Kemal Pasha summoned agricultural experts and conveyed his desire to establish a farm near Ankara, which was barren and barren. Despite the experts' opinion that a farm could not be established in the middle of a dilapidated steppe, where there were no trees and no water, they completed their examination and reported the result. Mustafa Kemal Pasha asked whether they had examined the place where the Forest Farm is located today, and the experts replied that it was swampy and barren and not a suitable place for a farm. Mustafa Kemal Pasha disagreed with this assessment and explained his opinion as follows: "This is the kind of place I want. On the edge of Ankara, it is swampy, barren and the worst place... If we do not come and rehabilitate it, who will come and rehabilitate it?
Rasih Bey (Kaplan) referred to this issue in his speech in the Parliament in the following period and stated that despite the objections that there was no water in Ankara, that the climate was not suitable, and that it was not possible to grow trees, Mustafa Kemal Pasha, who had made a decision to put it into practice, did not find these words correct and said that nothing could get rid of human labor within the possibilities.
It can be seen from all these accounts that the farms were established in order to carry out exemplary work and to work in partnership with the peasants against the belief that good results could not be obtained in different climatic regions and under unfavorable conditions.
Mustafa Kemal Pasha emphasized that during their thirteen years of operation, the farms directed all their earnings towards development, starting from the first years.[28] Hasan Rıza Bey also stated that the earnings of the farms were spent on their own development, and that new capital and lands were added over time. In this context, the 900,000 liras donated to the Republican People's Party by the former Egyptian Khedive Abbas Hilmi Pasha for his naturalization as a Turkish citizen, as well as the dividends and deposit interests received from the shares in the Turkish İş Bank were also spent for the development of the farms.
