Genel Hafta Tatilinin Özel Hukuk Sürelerine Etkisi Çerçevesinde Lozan Barış Antlaşması'nın 43 ve 45'inci Maddeleri

Artıcles 43 And 45 of the Lausanne Peace Treaty within the Framework of Durations in Private Law Türkiye won important legal victories in the Lausanne Peace Treaty in July 1923. The new state was promoted in the international arena, the borders of the country were clarified without stepping back one inch from the Misak-ı Millî, and minorities were determined on the basis of religion rather than race or genealogy. In addition to these, different problems such as territorial waters, disarmament, citizenship, debts, protection of minorities, captives, previous contracts, insurances, Turkish-Greek population exchange, intellectual and industrial rights were also settled in the same treaty. Article 43 of the Lausanne Peace Treaty is one of the provisions allocated to the protection of minorities and is written in two dimensions. The first side of the coin is that the State cannot compel minorities to take legal actions contrary to their religion and traditions. The second side concerns the weekly religious holiday (rest day) of minorities. As such, Türkiye should respect the right of its Armenian, Greek and Jewish citizens to perform their religious worship and rest every Sunday or Saturday according to their preferences and should prevent any loss of rights arising from private law during their weekly religious rest day. The second part of the first paragraph of Article 43 of the Lausanne Peace Treaty is specific only to the weekly religious holiday and does not cover other religious holidays. Therefore, Ramadan for Muslims, Passover for Jews, Christmas for Christians or saints’ days cannot be used as a justification for the aforementioned Lausanne provision. Article 45 of the Lausanne Peace Treaty introduces the principle of reciprocity. Accordingly, the rights granted to minorities in Türkiye should be recognized on an equivalent basis for Turkish Muslims in Greece (as well as in the present successor states of Serbo-Croat-Slovenia). Before the Lausanne Peace Treaty negotiations, Türkiye’s modernization and westernization timetable was (more or less) set. Perhaps it was already planned in this calendar that, in due course of time, in order to keep pace with the economic developments in the world, the general weekly holiday would be replaced from Friday to Sunday, state offices would operate on Fridays and close on Saturdays and Sundays; thus, it was foreseen that the easement of weekly religious rest days (holidays) granted to minorities in Türkiye under Lausanne in terms of durations of private law would soon be rendered inoperative. After all, even in the 1920s, weekly holidays were (Saturday or) Sunday in most of the world, except in some Islamic countries. On the other hand, it is well known that the leader Mustafa Kemâl Atatürk, before proclaiming the Republic, abolishing the caliphate and insisting on the principle of laicism, did not clash with the religion of Islam, and that he made joint use of both religious and national consciousness to create a loving national unity. It is noteworthy that in 1935 the weekly holiday was changed from Friday (starting on Saturday afternoon) to Sunday and this radical change was reflected simultaneously in the law of obligations and civil procedure law. As a result of these changes in the law, the weekly religious rest day facility in Article 43 of the Lausanne Peace Treaty has lost its function of extending the time limits in private law for minorities in Türkiye. The removal of Friday from being a general weekly holiday by law is one of the parameters that resulted in the dysfunctionalisation of the easement of weekly religious holidays in Article 43 of the Lausanne Peace Treaty for minorities in Türkiye. However, the combination of Articles 43 and 45 continues to guarantee the rights of Turkish Muslims in Greece (and in the present successor states of Serbo-Croat-Slovenia) to Friday midday prayers, as a rule for men, with the time necessary for their proper performance in congregation in the nearest mosque. The synchrony between Articles 43 and 45 of Lausanne started to yield useful outcomes when the general weekly holiday was changed from Friday to Sunday in Türkiye. From a diplomatic point of view, it became possible to take without giving. It is assumed that the freedom of weekly religious holidays in Article 43 was one of the legal actions and that imperialist states were deceived by this clever manoeuvre. Article 43, except for the easement of weekly religious rest days; in other words, the part that the State cannot compel minorities to act contrary to their religion and customs is, of course, still valid and eternal. This study explains how and why the easement of weekly religious holidays granted to minorities in Türkiye in Lausanne Peace Treaty has become dysfunctional in terms of the durations in private law. As a result, new data from private law is added to the outstanding achievements of Turkish diplomats in the Lausanne Peace Treaty negotiations. Keywords: Article 43 of the Lausanne Peace Treaty, weekly religious holiday (rest day), article 45 of the Lausanne Peace Treaty, principle of reciprocity, Türkiye’s modernization and westernization timetable, easement of weekly religious holidays (rest days), dysfunctionalization of the easement of weekly religious holidays in Article 43 of the Lausanne Peace Treaty for minorities in Türkiye