Publication: Osmanlı devleti’nde zeytinyağı (1800-1920)
Abstract
Tarihi gelişimi içerisinde birçok efsaneye konu olan zeytin, birçok eski uygarlığın yazıtlarında ve kutsal kitaplarda sıkça sözü edilmiştir. Ayrıca zeytin yüzyıllardır barışın simgesi olarak kabul edilmiştir. Geleneksel Osmanlı mutfağında az olarak kullanılmakla birlikte zeytinyağı yirminci yüzyılın başlarına kadar aydınlatma, donanmada kızakların yağlanmasında, saray ahırlarında hayvanların koşumlarının yağlanmasında ve sabun sanayinde önemli bir tüketim maddesi olmuştur. Bu nedenle zeytinyağının üretilmesinden nihai tüketim aşamasına kadar Osmanlı Devlet yöneticileri sıkı bir kontrol uygulamış ve halka her zaman bol ve ucuz fiyat ile ulaştırılmasına özen göstermişlerdir. Özellikle İmparatorluğun başkentinin zeytinyağı ihtiyacının karşılanması için azami dikkat gösterilmiştir. Bu çerçevede Midilli, Ayvalık, Ayvacık, Edremit, Kemeredremit, Yund Adası ve Ayazmend kazaları başkentin zeytinyağı deposu olarak ön plana çıkmıştır. İzmir, Aydın ve Muğla hattında üretilen yağlar düşük kaliteli yağlar olduğundan çoğunlukla sabun sanayinde hammadde olarak kullanılmıştır. Bu kazalar ürettikleri zeytinyağlarını öncelikle Başkentin ihtiyacını karşılamaya hasretmiş ancak geriye kalan kısmın ihracına izin verilmiştir. Başkent halkının zeytinyağı ihtiyacının düzenli olarak karşılanması için “Revgan-ı zeyt Müdürlüğü” kurulmuştur. XIX. yüzyılın başından itibaren artan Avrupa talebi karşısında zeytinyağı ticaretinin önemi artmış ve kaçakçılık yaygınlaşmıştır. Osmanlı Devleti’nin zeytinyağı ihracatı 1838 Baltalimanı Antlaşmasından sonra artmaya başlamış ve ihraç ürünleri arasında ilk beş içerisinde yer almıştır. Cumhuriyet’in kuruluşuna kadar zeytinyağı sanayinin hâkim karakterini “zeytinyağı değirmenleri “ oluşturmuştur. Bu nedenle Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nda üretilen zeytinyağı yüksek asitli, düşük kaliteli olmaktan öteye gidememiş ve Avrupa piyasasında ancak sanayide kullanılma aşamasında kendine yer bulabilmiştir. Bu nedenle zeytinyağının kalitesinin artırılmasına çalışılmış fakat başarılı olunamamıştır. Modern zeytinyağı sanayi on dokuzuncu yüzyılın sonlarına doğru Ayvalık, Edremit ve Midilli hattında çoğunlukla gayri Müslim reaya tarafından kurulmuştur. Fakat bu fabrikalar da uzun süre vakıfların engellemeleri ile karşı karşıya kalmıştır. Bu fabrikalar Balkan ve Birinci Dünya Savaşlarından olumsuz etkilenmiş ve çoğu terk edilerek atıl duruma gelmiştir.
The olive which has been subject to many legends in its historical development has been repeatedly mentioned in the scripts of many civilizations and holy boks. Olive has also been accepted as the symbol of peace for centuries. Not to be used as often in the traditional Otoman Cuisine, olive oil has been used for lighting, oilment of slipway in the navy, oilment of house gears in royal stables and as a main product in the soap industry until the beginning of the twentieth century. For these reasons in total, Otaman State governors had practised a strict policy from the production and to the consumer market of olive oil and maintained its consistancy and price availability to the public.They especially gave importance to meet the requirement of olive oil fort he capital city of the Empire. From this point of view, the islands of Midilli, and Yund with the cities of Ayvalık, Ayvacık,Edremit,Kemeredremit and Ayazmend had been considered to be the olive oil granaries of the capital city. The oils of İzmir, Aydın and Muğla line had been of lower quality and mainly used as a raw material in soap industry. Those cities had spared their production to the demand of the capital city and only been given permission to Export the rest. İn order to meet the requirement of olive oil of the capital city, the Revgan-ı Zeyt management had been estabilished. From the beginning of the nineteenth century, with the increasing demand of Europe, the olive oil trade growed and smuggling had spreaded. The Export of Otoman State’s olive oil had begun to increase after the 1838 Baltalimanı Agreament and had been placed in the first five under the Export goods. Until the foundation of Republic. The dominant player in the olive oil industry had been the olive oil mills. Fort his reason, olive oil that had been prodeced in Otoman Empire could not acceed high acide, low grade standards and could only find place to be used in industrial use in European commerce. Thus there had been efforts to raise the quality of olive oil but they were unsuccessful. Modern olive oil industry had formed its shape in the line of Ayvalık, Edremit and Midilli by non- muslim citicents by the end of nineteenth century. Howewer, those factories had faced obstacles by foundations for a long time. Those factories had olsa been negatively effected by Balkan and First World Wars and many of them were isolated and left useless.
The olive which has been subject to many legends in its historical development has been repeatedly mentioned in the scripts of many civilizations and holy boks. Olive has also been accepted as the symbol of peace for centuries. Not to be used as often in the traditional Otoman Cuisine, olive oil has been used for lighting, oilment of slipway in the navy, oilment of house gears in royal stables and as a main product in the soap industry until the beginning of the twentieth century. For these reasons in total, Otaman State governors had practised a strict policy from the production and to the consumer market of olive oil and maintained its consistancy and price availability to the public.They especially gave importance to meet the requirement of olive oil fort he capital city of the Empire. From this point of view, the islands of Midilli, and Yund with the cities of Ayvalık, Ayvacık,Edremit,Kemeredremit and Ayazmend had been considered to be the olive oil granaries of the capital city. The oils of İzmir, Aydın and Muğla line had been of lower quality and mainly used as a raw material in soap industry. Those cities had spared their production to the demand of the capital city and only been given permission to Export the rest. İn order to meet the requirement of olive oil of the capital city, the Revgan-ı Zeyt management had been estabilished. From the beginning of the nineteenth century, with the increasing demand of Europe, the olive oil trade growed and smuggling had spreaded. The Export of Otoman State’s olive oil had begun to increase after the 1838 Baltalimanı Agreament and had been placed in the first five under the Export goods. Until the foundation of Republic. The dominant player in the olive oil industry had been the olive oil mills. Fort his reason, olive oil that had been prodeced in Otoman Empire could not acceed high acide, low grade standards and could only find place to be used in industrial use in European commerce. Thus there had been efforts to raise the quality of olive oil but they were unsuccessful. Modern olive oil industry had formed its shape in the line of Ayvalık, Edremit and Midilli by non- muslim citicents by the end of nineteenth century. Howewer, those factories had faced obstacles by foundations for a long time. Those factories had olsa been negatively effected by Balkan and First World Wars and many of them were isolated and left useless.