Atatürk donates his farms to the Treasury
In a telegram he sent to the Prime Ministry on June 11, 1937, Atatürk announced that he was donating the farms in his possession to the Treasury. He further added that the farms, which had expanded their scope in the course of thirteen years of arduous work, were now a productive and valuable asset in every respect and that they would constitute a perfect prototype in developing agricultural methods, increasing production, and determining agricultural policies.
Sprawled across a total area of 154,729 decares, the property Atatürk donated included the following farms: Gazi Forest Farm in Ankara, Millet (Nation) and Baltacı Farms in Yalova, Tekir and Şövalya Farms in Silifke, the orange grove and Karabasmak Farm in Dörtyol, and Pıloğlu Farm in Tarsus.
On June 12th, Prime Minister İsmet İnönü sent Atatürk a thank-you note for this exemplary gesture. Atatürk replied as follows:
The gift in question has no value compared to the real gift I hope to give to the great Turkish nation. When the time comes, I will give my life for the Turkish nation as my ultimate gift.
