The following is a summarized text of the Sultan`s Ferman (Decree) dated 21 September 1571, ordering the Governors of Western, Central, and Eastern Anatolia and Karaman to make immediate arrangements for the transport of twenty thousand Turkish families to Cyprus for settlement. The original document is reproduced on the following pages.
The first settlers who arrived in the island after the issue of this Ferman (Decree) numbered about 20,000, but this figure did not include the permanent garrison, whose official strength was 2,000 infantry and 2,666 cavalry, and who were already stationed in the island after the conquest. In consequence, when, in 1571, a settled Turkish community first came into existence in Cyprus, its members were entirely of pure Turkish origin.
Text of the Decree
In a report I received from Lala Mustafa Pasha, the Governor of Cyprus, it is stated that, during the war which lasted three years, many parts of the island were destroyed, and a new ambitious plan is necessary to reactivate the economy and use the natural resources of the island to their utmost. Therefore, I have ordered a plan to be drawn up immediately, and have given instructions to the Governor-General (Lala Mustafa Pasha) to utilize every possible source to develop the country, and to cultivate the fields, vineyards, and farms.
Subsidy and encouragement should be given to the new settlers especially in the agricultural sector. In addition, the labour force should be expanded to cultivate adequately the fields, farms, and vineyards in the island. Instructions have also been given to the authorities in charge of the settlement programme to see that, among the interested citizens who want to settle in the island, professionals such as craftsmen and traders, shoemakers, boot-makers, tailors, skull-cap makers, weavers, sack weavers, wool carders, silk dyers and manufacturers, cooks, soup-makers, candlestick-makers, saddlers farriers, grocers, tanners, carpenters, master builders, stone-cutters, goldsmiths, and coppersÂmiths should be included, and all settlers should be allowed to take their personal belongings and professional equipment.
They should also be encouraged to take their sheep, goats, and farming equipment, and other essential material that will be required to continue their normal life. The immovable properties and lands owned by citizens emigrating to the island should be entrusted to their local authorities, and their respective owners should be compensated in kind. They should also be paid pocket-money subsidies and other allowances, together with their personal travelling expenses. The emigrants who are willing to go to the island should be asked to register their names and profession with the authorities, and, after completing the formalities required, should report to the port of "Silifke" for subsequent travel to reach their destination in Cyprus before the autumn of 1572.
They should also be given expatriate allowance and certain additional privileges such as tax exemptions. Specific instructions have also been given to the authorities to see that officials dealing with the emigration formalities should give every possible assistance to emigrants wishing to go to Cyprus, and accelerate the operation of settlement to see that no complaints arise whatsoever.
Signed: Sultan Selim II Sultan of the Ottoman Empire
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North Cyprus
