Turkish Village
Copyright 1965, 1994 Paul Stirling. All rights reserved.
Paul Stirling
CHAPTER SEVEN
THE DOMESTIC CYCLE
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Page 130
Sükrü had kept together his father's land; neither his brother's daughters nor his sister's daughters had ever received a share. Moreover, his senior surviving wife had been separated from him for years, and was living with her son by a former marriage, Celal. This particular argument was complicated and rendered urgent by the fact that Sükrü had left a debt to the Agricultural Bank of T.L.400. I met his sons, Duran and Celal, and his sister's daughter's husband, when they were invited by the headman to his guest room to discuss the matter. The headman argued with them that the whole estate was not large enough for them to `stuff lawyers', so they had better settle it between themselves. The discussion was complicated, involving short-term problems about the debt, the work of harvesting, and the division of the crops, as well as the long-term difficulties about the land. He suggested seven equal divisions - one each for the widows, and one each for Sükrü's children - not a legally correct decision, but at least equitable. I had the impression from a general interchange of cigarettes that this solution had been accepted by the three men, but I gathered subsequently that Sükrü's nieces were claiming shares and that even the main disputants were not satisfied. The case was not settled when I left, but clearly no one was going to take the matter to court. I am sure in fact that Shükrü's two sons would never agree, unless compelled, to a sevenfold division of the land, let alone to giving a share to female patrilateral cousins. No one even thought, as far as I know, of dividing the land according to the genealogy - that is, giving one-third to be divided between each of the groups of siblings descended from Shükrü's father. Duran's obvious course would be simply to divide the land with his brother and then stick it out until people got used to the idea.
All these examples point to the same conclusion. The distribution of any given estate is largely a matter of relative power and influence. Rules both customary and legal are used rather as weapons than as principles for right conduct.
Customary morality gives men a decided advantage in the struggle. Daughters may be theoretically entitled, but their rights are unimportant, and should never be allowed to prevent a man from possessing enough land to care for a family. A man ought properly to derive his wealth from his
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