Inspectorates-General (Turkey)
Inspectorates-General or General Inspectorates was a regional governorship whose authorities prevailed over civilian, military and judicial institutions under their domain of the direct command of Mustafa Kemal in order to establishing authoritarian rule and to consolidate the authority in the process of Turkification of religious and ethnic minorities.
The Turkish Grand National Assembly got the law numbered 1164 and dated June 25, 1927, passed. On January 1, 1928, the First Inspectorate-General including the provinces of Diyarbakır, Elazığ, Urfa, Bitlis, Van, Hakkâri, Siirt and Mardin was established with the center in Diyarbakır.
Before Thrace pogroms, on February 19, 1934, the Second Inspectorate-General including Kırklareli, Edirne, Tekirdağ and Çanakkale provinces, was established with the center in Edirne
On August 25, 1935, the Third Inspectorate-General including Ağrı, Kars, Artvin, Rize, Trabzon, Gümüşhane, Erzincan and Erzurum provinces, was established with the center in Erzurum.
Before Dersim Rebellion, on June 6, 1936, the Fourth Inspectorate-General was established in historical Dersim region that includes Tunceli, Elazığ and Bingöl provinces, with the center in Elazığ.
In December 1936 a conference of the Inspector-Generals of all the four Inspectorates-Generals together with the Minister of the Interior Şükrü Kaya was held and an evaluation of the Turkification program was prepared. The Inspector-Generals compared their results for three days. The First Inspectorate-General demanded a closure of the border with Syria as he complained that from Syria the Kurds, Yazidis and Armenians received support.
The Inspectorates General were disestablished in 1952 under the government of the Democrat Party.
