A Study on the Use of Forest Assets as a Means of Producing Land-Estate in Turkey

Abstract

Publicly known as 2/B (commonly used abbreviation for the provisions of the Article 2/B of the Forestry Law), the law numbered 6292, concerning the sales of the land which has lost its quality as a forest after it is excluded from the forest, has taken effect in 2012. Regulations regarding 2/B had been addressed in several regulations, especially in the constitutions of 1961 and 1982. It was first introduced in the Forestry Law numbered 6831 with a temporary article amended in 24.07.1965. However, the article in question was annulled by the decision of the Supreme Court in 1966. In 1970, a provision on the land which can be left out of the borders of the forest was amended to the Article 131 of the Constitution of 1961. Articles 169 and 170 of the Constitution of 1982 were also amended with provisions similar to the ones in the Constitution of 1961. In 1983, the “Law on Promoting for Forest Villager’s Development” numbered 2924 had taken effect. With the arrangement made in the Article 3 of the “Amendment to the Law on the Utilization of Real Properties Held by the Treasury and Value Added Tax” numbered 4706, it was defined how to apply the Law numbered 2924 on the land which is considered out of the borders of the forest pursuant to the Article 2/B of the Forestry Law numbered 6831 and how these lands will be assessed. However, this regulation was annulled by the Supreme Court decision in 2002. Following this decision of the Supreme Court, there was an inactivity regarding 2/B practices and relevant transactions were suspended. Finally, regulations on the land falling within the scope of 2/B were addressed with the Law numbered 6292. In this study, the Law numbered 6292 on “Supporting the Development of Forest Villagers and Utilization of Lands Taken Out of Forest Boundaries and Registered Under the Name of the Treasury and the Sale of Agricultural Lands Owned by the Treasury” which has taken effect in 2012 will be assessed in terms of the Constitution, Supreme Court’s previous decision on this subject, zoning law, the prices and their implications on the environment.