Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1921.djvu/1396

 1344 TURKEY

has been constructed continuously as far as Kara Bunar in Cilicia. Further on the following sections hare been completed : Dorak to Bagtche on the Adana side of the Taurus Mountains ; Radjun via Muslimie to Jerablus on the Euphrates with branch from Muslimie to Aleppo ; Jerablus to El-Abiad in the direction of Nisibin (the Euphrates being spanned by a wooden bridge) ; and Bagdad to Samara, a stretch of about 80 kilometres. A branch line has also been completed from Alexandretta to Toprak Kale on the Dorak-Adana- Bagtche - section. Of the distance from Konia to Bagdad, 1,509 miles, 1,117 miles (with gaps) are already working. In January, 1919, the British military authorities took over the administration of the Bagdad railway, while the French took charge of the Oriental railways of European Turkey. Total railway mileage in Turkey in 1916, 3,720 miles.

Electric tramways are working in Constantinople, Smyrna, Damascus, and Beyrouth.

There are 1,814 Turkish post-offices in the Empire. In the year 1917-18 the inland service transmitted 20,377,837 letters and 4,685,049 post-cards, and 21,997,149 samples and printed papers ; the international service trans- mitted 1,853,961 letters and 767,744 post-cards, and 691.696 samples and printed papers. A parcel-post system has been introduced into Turkey, and works fairly well. Foreign post-offices have ceased to exist since Oct. 1, 1914.

The length of telegraph lines in Turkey is about 28,890 miles, and the length of wire about49,200 miles ; there are 1,017 telegraph offices ; messages in the year 1914-15, 5,533,501.

Money, Weights, and Measures of Turkey.

In January, 1917, the Turkish Government issued a Charter for a new National Bank, to be styled the Ottoman National Credit Bank (Osmauli Itibar milli Bancassi). Its capital is 4 million Turkish pounds (3,600,000/.). After the expiration of the privileges of the Imperial Ottoman Bank (1925) the new institute is to become the State Bank with the right to issue bank- notes.

The Imperial Ottoman Bank, with a capital of £T10, 000,000, had, on Nov. 30, 1910, a note circulation of £T94 1,250, and cash on hand amounting to £T3, 586,834. The bank's note issue consisted up to 1914 of notes of £T5 and upwards, secured on a gold reserve of not less than one-third of the value of the issue. Other important banks arc the National Bank of Turkey, the Arch- Levantine Banking Company, the Credit Lyonnais, Banco di Roma, and the Bank of Athens.

Up to December 31, 1919, the total amount of notes issued by the Govern- ment amounted to £T159,2SO,000.

On April 17, 1916, an order was issued reforming the currency. A gold standard, with the piastre as the unit, is henceforth to be general all over Turkey, and the piastre equals -10 para. The piastres, as well as the half piastre (20 para), quarter piastre (10 para) and eighth piastre (5 para) pieces are to be of nickel. Silver coins are 2, 5, 10, and 20 piastres ; and gold coins 25, 50, 100, 250, and 500 piastres. Silver is legal tender up to 300 piastres, and nicW up to 50 piastres.

At present, however, (April, 1921) the only money in general circulation, with the exception of 20 para pieces, is paper issued during the war. This forced currency is very depreciated, the Turkish paper lira being worth about one-sixth of the gold coin of the same denomination, and the exchauge for sterling having recently (January, 1921) fallen rrom a rate fluctuating in the neighbourhood of I'.4ft0 to the c sterling to a rate fluctuating in the neighbour- hood of I'. 676 to the £ sterling.