FOREST, VILLAGERS AND STATE: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE STATE AND FOREST VILLAGERS IN THE CONTEXT OF FOREST UTILIZATION, PROTECTION AND FOREST CRIMES

According to data from 2016, more than 7 million people are living in 22 661 forest villages in Turkey. The main issue related to this villages is that most of these villages are among the poorest in Turkey. Surrounded by a rich vegetation and seems attractive from the outsider’s point of view, these villages are disadvantaged in terms of their livelihoods due to the constraints of the forests, both in terms of agriculture and native ranges which is the basis of animal husbandry. This article is based on a research on the state of forest villages in Turkey, and focuses on how the forest is shared between peasants and the state or it is perceived as a domain of sovereignty. In the article the state - forest villagers relations were discussed under the context of utilization, protection and ownership of the forests firstly in the historical perspective and in a legal framework, then in the context of the findings of a very recent anthropological field study